rmm 



mmmmmmm 



BX 

•99,5 

18S± 

























>> 













m^ 



t\V <^ 



^ 






•u 






























viMtduiit &. Jou^t 



11 



***** +hrf.ye^.A*J0& 



y^rMv 



^mm 



OF 



THE REV. DR. BEDELL. 



MEMOIR 



OF THE 









REV. GREGORY T. BEDELL, D.I) 



RECTOR OF ST. ANDREWS CHUP" -\DELPIIIA. 



BY STEPHEN H.'TYNG. 



SECOND EDITION, ENLARGED AND I1IPR0YED. 



0/ \, 



PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL SOCIETY FOR THE PROMOTION OF 

EVANGELICAL KNOWLEDGE, 

11 BIBLE HOUSE. ASTOR PLACE. 

1854. 



CONTENTS 



$ PAGE 

Preface to First Edition, vii 

Preface to Second Edition, ix 



CHAPTER I. 

Birth — Early Life — Education — Religious Profession — Preparation 
for the Ministry— -Ordination — Southern Tour, .... 



CHAPTER II. 

Settlement in Hudson — Comparison of Sermons — Efforts in his 
Ministry — Deficiencies — Marriage — Prospect of Removing to 
New- York — Disappointment — Removal to Fayetteville, . .33 



CHAPTER III. 

Removal to Fayetteville — Character of his Ministry — Peaceful 
Spirit — Interesting Instance of his Usefulness — Extemporaneous 
Prayer and Prayer-Meetings — Specimen of Preaching — Failing 
Health — Journey to the North — Necessity for Removal — Feel- 
ings of the People — Removal from Fayetteville, . . ,70 



CHAPTER IT. 

Arrival in Philadelphia — Efforts of Rev. B. Allen — Intimacy be- 
tween them — Death of Mr. A. — Mr. Bedell's funeral sermon — 
Anniversary sermon — Early efforts in Philadelphia — Success of 
his ministry — Opening of St, Andrew's Church. . . .101 



VI CONTENTS. 



CHAPTE E V . 

His Character and Power as a Preacher — Sermon for the Greeks — 
Interesting Incidents Illustrating the Effect of his Preaching — 
Manner as a Preacher 125 



CHAPT E R VI. 

Pastoral Character — Diligence — Kindness — "Watchfulness over 
young Christians — Intercourse with Communicants, . . .157 

CHAPTER VII. 

Pastoral Character — Attention to Communicants — The Evils at- 
tending a Country Residence — Pastoral Letter on the Cholera — 
Pastoral Reproofs — Pastoral Visits. 1SS 

CHAPTER Till. 

Pastoral Character — Prayer-Meetings — Revivals of Religion — Re- 
gularity in Services, 213 

CHAPTER IX. 

Sunday-Schools — Bible-Classes — Benevolent Exertions — Agencies 
for American Sunday-School Union — American Bible Society — 
Candidates for the Ministry — Bristol College, . . . .237 

CHAP TER X. 

Private Character — Episcopal Conventions — Domestic Relations — 
Music— Poetry, 284 

CHAPTER XI. 
Eailing Health — Journeyings — Last Journey — Sickness — Death, . 324 

CHAPTER XII. 

Funeral — Testimonials of Respect for his Character — Rev. Mr. 
Snow's Introductory Essay 377 



PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 



The Biography and TTritings of a Clergyman who has filled so large 
a measure of public notice as the author of the present volumes of Ser- 
mons, may be expected to be a most interesting and valuable offering 
to the Church. Such was the extent of his popularity and fame, that 
few were ignorant of him : such was his influence as a minister of Christ, 
that many were made partakers of permanent spiritual benefits through 
his instrumentahty ; and such the variety and number of his written 
compositions, that much might have been expected to be reached, cal- 
culated to develop his character, and bring to fight the circumstances of 
his life. In this expectation, however, there will be some inevitable 
disappointment. His known unwillingness to hear much said of him- 
self led to the destruction of all such notes as may generally be found 
among the papers of a departed minister of Christ, opening a more accu- 
rate and intimate knowledge of the events of his own life. His letters, 
though he wrote many, have not generally been accessible to his bio- 
grapher, and letters received by himself were never preserved. The 
sources of information which have been laid open for the preparation of 
his memoir, have, therefore, been few. and but a short time has been 
allowed the editor, amidst his own pressing pastoral duties and cares, 
to finish the preparation of the whole. The present is the best offering 
which, under such circumstances, he is able to make. He was induced 
from two motives to accede to the repeated requests of the family and 



Vlll PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 

friends of Dr. Bedell that he would undertake the duty which he has 
here attempted to discharge. The first was. that he might give his 
utmost aid to the comfort and advantage of the family of a most beloved 
and tried friend, for whom all the profits of the work are designed. 
The second was, that he might exhibit fairly to the Church the princi- 
ples and character of this friend, and to his brethren in the ministry, an 
illustration of his varied practical usefulness and success. In the attain- 
ment of the first, there is every reason for hope that he will be gratified. 
TThether he has accomplished the second to the advantage of those 
whose benefit was designed, they must judge. In tracing the charac- 
ter and history of Dr. Bedell, candor and truth required a reference to 
facts the recollection of which will necessarily give pain to some. 
The editor hopes that in such references he has accomplished the object 
for which he watchfully labored, to exhibit simply the actual character 
and principles of the subject of his notice, without impugning the mo- 
tives or character of any from whom he differed In the hope that the 
result of his efforts may be acceptable to his brethren in the ministry, 
to the congregation so much attached to his departed friend, and to the 
Church at large, he cheerfully commits it to them, feeling that however 
laborious has been the undertaking, it has been a most dehghtful privi- 
lege to be engaged in such continued and intimate contemplation of the 
character and ministry of one whose uninterrupted friendship in life 
was one of his choicest blessings, and whcse example will be a fight in 
his path while earthly being is preserved. S. H. T. 

PhiladelpTiia, April 13, 1S35. 



PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. 



Such has been the acceptance of the short Memoir of Dr. Bedell, 
which was prefixed to his Sermons, and so rapid and entire the sale of 
that edition, that the author has been led to yield to the repeated re- 
quests forwarded to him from different parts of the TTnited States, to 
prepare it as a separate and independent publication. The Memoir, in 
its original size, has already been re-published, in London, in a separate 
volume, with a most judicious and valuable introduction by the Rev. 
Thomas Snow of that city, which will be found at the close of the 
present book. In re-publishing the fruit of his labors in the present 
edition, the author has doubled the work in its size, and corrected what- 
ever inaccuracies were found to have been inadvertently made in the 
former edition. He hopes the present offering will be found yet more 
worthy of the approbation of the Church, In it he has taken opportu- 
nity to extend much more minutely his views of Dr. Bedell's ministry 
and labors, and has thus found occasion to express in some connections, 
his own opinions upon the subjects which have been presented. Both 
in these and in every other part of the book, he has labored so to state 
every thing which occurs, as best to follow the great purpose for which 
his whole ministry has been devoted, to seek the truth and peace. In 
the form in which this Memoir is now presented, the author is confident 
that, under the blessing of G-od, it will be a useful companion and 
friend to many, especially to the younger clergy of the Church. They 



X PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. 

will here find what will be now conceded by all, to be a description of 
as perfect a pattern of the Gospel ministry as has been furnished in our 
age, or perhaps in any other. The view which the author was always 
accustomed to take of the ministry of his Mend while living, he was 
most happy to find, after his death, was also taken by others in whose 
judgment the Church is accustomed to place the utmost confidence. 
The following extract from the journal of the fifty-first Convention of 
the Diocese of Pennsylvania, May, 1835, will show the unanimous 
opinion of that body as entirely accordant upon this point with his 
own. 

" The following preamble and resolution was offered by the Rev. Dr. 
Tyng, and seconded by the Eight Rev. Bishop Onderdonk : 

" Whereas the divine providence of Almighty God has, since the ad- 
journment of the last Convention, removed from the scene of his earthly 
labors the Rev. Gregory T, Bedell, D.D., Rector of St. Andrew's Church, 
Philadelphia ; for eleven years a useful member of this Convention, and 
a highly distinguished clergyman of tliis Church ; therefore 

"Resolved, That this Convention record their high sense of the per- 
sonal and ministerial character of the Rev. Dr. Bedell, and their sense 
of thankfulness for the usefulness and success of his labors, as a minis- 
ter of Christ." 

Such will be now the universal feeling of the Episcopal Church upon 
this subject, and the name of Bedell will be permanently enrolled among 
those bright examples whom God has been pleased to give as the decus 
et tutamen of the Church. He has blessed us with the permission to 
live in an age when, amidst surrounding confusion among others, per- 
fect harmony reigns among ourselves, and when, by universal consent, 
the Church in which we minister is rising most happily and promi- 
nently as a guiding star of peace and safety for multitudes of souls. 
Under such circumstances the author feels great delight in dedicating 
this offering to his brethren, and commending its subject to the notice 
of all whose hearts are turned to the ministry of the Gospel of Christ. 
That they may all thus finish their testimony and work for Christ, and 
enter into the same glorious rest, is his devout prayer to God through 
the riches of his mercy in Jesus Christ. S. H. T. 

Philadelphia, March 8, 1836. 



MEMOIR OF REV. DR. BEDELL. 



CHAPTER K 

Birth — Early Life — Education — Religions Profession — Preparation for 
the Ministry — Ordination — Southern Tour. 

In the lives of men who have been remarkable in the 
world, there is often found much of an interesting and pre- 
dictive character, even in the incidents of their earliest youth. 
These facts, though at the time of their occurrence they 
may be but little attended to, are afterward remembered 
in connection with the events of the subsequent life, and 
made the subject of much interesting reflection. They are 
calculated to bestow increased interest upon the history in 
which they are contained, and to secure for succeeding 
circumstances the most favorable notice. In the present 
instance, however, though all that is remembered of the 
childhood and youth of the subject of this biography is 
quite characteristic and deeply interesting, there are not 
many incidents to be recorded of his early days. Indeed, 
the whole course of his life may be considered barren of 
incidents, by those who measure the interest of biography 
only by what is wonderful and romantic in its events — and 
such readers will hardly be attracted by the present memoir. 



12 MEMOIR OF 

But to those who are competent to estimate true excellence, 
and who can appreciate human character according to its 
actual utility and worth, there will be presented here a 
bright and happy example, possessing from opening maturity 
until the hour of death very much of all that can ever adorn 
the conduct of man, illustrating the power and beauty of 
Christian principles, and glorifying the grace of God, which 
thus displayed its own excellency in an earthen vessel. 

Gregory Townsend Bedell was born on Staten Island, 
in the harbor of New-York, on the 28th of October, 1793. 
His father, Israel Bedell, was a man of true excellence of 
character, of a peaceful temper and spirit, and much beloved 
by those who were connected with him. After having lived 
to see fourscore years, to witness the full eminence and use- 
fulness of this his only son, and to receive both in religious 
counsel and in pecuniary assistance, many happy proofs of 
his filial gratitude and love, he died at Elizabethtown, in 
New- Jersey, on the 30th of August, in the year 1830, in the 
comfort and confidence of a Gospel hope, and leaving behind 
him a character unblemished and unreproached. His mother 
was a sister of the Right Rev. Richard C. Moore, D.D., 
Bishop of Virginia. She was remarkable both for her 
mental accomplishments and for her external beauty; 
adorned with a most amiable disposition, and kind and 
benevolent to the poor. She was early admitted as a com- 
municant of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and honored 
the doctrine of her Saviour by a consistent walk of faith and 
piety. She was married late in life, and lived only until 
her son was nine years old. 

It is said to have been the uniform and ardent desire of 
Mrs. Moore, the mother of Mrs. Bedell, that all her sons 
should devote themselves to the ministry of the Gospel, a 
desire which was remarkably gratified by the gracious pro- 
vidence of God, in raising up from her sons and grandsons, 
not less than jive faithful and valuable preachers of the truth, 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 13 

three* of whom still survive to labor in their important 
vocation. 

Gregory T. Bedell was the only son of his parents. His 
father had three daughters, the offspring of a former mar- 
riage, who were, in a most eminent degree, affectionate and 
useful sisters to him, and were made, in the hands of God, 
the main instruments in educating him for the work in 
which his life was so usefully employed. They were ever 
to him also objects of the fondest and most unshaken attach- 
ment, and were permitted to receive from him the most 
unequivocal proofs of his affectionate gratitude. Two of 
them have survived to lament his early departure from 
the earth. 

Though in many instances, we are able to trace in child- 
hood the germs of the future character of the man, it is but 
rarely the fact, perhaps, that the brightest and most valuable 
traits in the mature mind and heart are very early developed. 
In the instance before us, however, we find remarkable evi- 
dence in his earliest life, of the lovely characteristics which 
were so strikingly displayed in his subsequent career of 
excellence. He is remembered to have been from his 
infancy a gentle and interesting child, making himself the 
object of universal favor and affection in the family circle. 
His disposition was so amiable and equal, that he was 
scarcely ever seen to be excited by an angry passiou. 
There was a sweetness in his voice and a softness and deli- 
cacy in his manners which attracted to him the love of all. 

His talent for music, which afterward became so remark- 
able, and by which he might have become widely known, 

* A.D. 1836 — Bisliop Moore of Virginia, the Eev. David Moore of 
Staten Island, and the Eev. Richard C. Moore of Elizabethtown, Few- 
Jersey. 

A.D. 1854 — To these may now be added the only son of the subject 
of this memoir, the Eev. G-. Thurston Bedell, rector of the Church 
of the Ascension, New- York. 



14 MEMOIR OF 

had he not excelled so much more in other more important 
things, developed itself also, very early in his life. When 
but two years old, he could sing several tunes with accuracy ; 
and at this infantile period, when taken to witness a military 
parade, his success in following the time of the martial music 
with a little drum which was slung upon his neck, arrested 
the notice of the by-standers with astonishment. From his 
childhood, his constitution was delicate, and his nervous 
system painfully susceptible. His timidity and diffidence 
were so great, that for two years after the proper age for 
his instruction in school had arrived, he could not be per- 
suaded to go, unless attended by his elder sister. He was 
thus easily led to seek for his amusements at home, and to 
avoid the society of other children, whose example might be 
calculated to injure the moral influence under which his 
parents desired him to be educated. 

These little characteristics of his childhood must be inter- 
esting to those who have witnessed them on a larger scale 
in the operation of his succeeding life. They are less so, 
however, than some others which at this period were equally 
remarkable. He exhibited in his earliest years, the evidence 
of that benevolence and liberality, which, under the guidance 
of divine grace, were so prominent and useful in his mature 
character, and which literally scattered through his whole 
life for the good of others, his time, and strength, and money, 
as fast as he was able to gather them. Before he could speak 
with plainness, when the poor presented themselves at the 
door of his father's house, he would run to them with his 
little hands filled with articles of food, and, unsolicited, press 
upon them their acceptance. So eager was this desire, that 
he could not be pacified unless he was supplied from the 
house with the food which he sought, and unless his offering 
was received by those to whom it was made. 

His forgiveness of spirit was as remarkable as his libe- 
rality. The same unwillingness to repeat the ill that he 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 15 

knew or heard of others, which distinguished him at all 
times as a man, was exhibited in him also as a child. This 
temper was beautifully displayed on one occasion, which is 
remembered by his family, when he was very young. One 
of his companions, in the hastiness of ungoverned anger at 
some small offense which he had received from him, ran 
into a blacksmith's shop, and seized a shovel of hot coals, 
which he threw down the back of this little child in the 
spirit of revenge. His dress was low in the neck, and 
the fire easily fell beneath it upon his flesh, and having to 
run a considerable distance to his home, his back was exceed- 
ingly burned, and many months passed before it was entirely 
healed. Yet when his father and friends made arrangements 
to punish the boy who had so cruelly injured him, he entreated 
with earnestness that he might be forgiven; and his friends 
could satisfy his perseverance only by a reluctant consent. 
His strict adherence to truth, under all circumstances, 
became also a general subject of remark at home and at 
school, and preserved him through many difficulties which 
he was obliged to encounter. 

In all these traits of character, he stands forth as a beauti- 
ful example of excellence in childhood, well worthy the con- 
sideration both of parents and children. None can fail to 
see in this how important it is, to foster and encourage in 
the character of a child every disposition and habit which 
tends to the attainment of meekness and gentleness of spirit. 
" Whatsoever things are excellent"' have to contend with so 
much pride and hardness of heart in fallen man, that every 
parental effort to implant and cultivate them, is sometimes 
without success. But in most instances which come under 
our observation, there is far too little attention given on the 
part of parents, to that cultivation of the affections and the 
heart, in the want of which so much unhappiness is pro- 
duced for man. Let little children look at the conduct of 
this little boy, who afterward became so distinguished as 



16 MEMOIR OF 

"a man of God," and see how much his happiness as a child, 
and his usefulness as a man, were promoted by his tender- 
ness and gentleness of spirit and manners, while he was yet 
very young. The Spirit of God thus early guided him in 
the attainment and exhibition of such a character as, in its 
ultimate fruits, highly adorned the Gospel of which he became 
a minister. The only son of a mother adapted in every 
respect, both in power of intellect and piety of heart, to 
direct his youthful mind into paths of peace and excellence, 
he had certainly great advantages for the early formation of 
these valuable principles of character. And though, in his 
subsequent youth, he became comparatively thoughtless, 
never immoral ; when we connect together his early sweet- 
ness of mind and temper, with his final course of usefulness 
to men, we can not but feel the conviction, that the Lord 
was early sowing the seeds of spiritual life in his heart. 
We can not indeed say distinctly how much he was indebted 
for his interesting character to this excellent mother, who 
was so soon removed from him, nor feel authorized actually 
to add his name to that long list which stands in the history 
of the Church, as witnesses to the worth and influence of 
maternal piety. But we ought not to notice the remarkable 
connection between his early and his later life, under the 
circumstances in which he was placed, without gathering the 
encouragement to fidelity in duty which they may gain from 
it to whom God has been pleased to give, both children to 
be guided to himself, and a real desire that they may become 
his children in eternal glory. A mother's instructions in the 
things of the Lord, and a mother's prayers for the spiritual 
blessing of the Lord, form the most valuable privilege and 
treasure which can be bestowed upon a child. "The promise 
is to us, and to our children." 

How desirable is it that Christian parents should realize 
this important truth, and act always in connection with their 
children in reference to their whole being, their eternal state ! 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 17 

How much misery and guilt might thus be spared to the 
world ! How much honor might be brought to God ! How 
much happiness might be conferred upon mankind ! 

In the year 1802, this valued mother was taken to her 
rest, leaving an animating example of piety to bless her only 
son, with whom she is now rejoicing in "a city not made 
with hands, eternal in the heavens." He was left to the 
charge of his elder sisters, of whom it is not too much to 
say, that in tenderness, affection, and usefulness, they filled 
up to him a mother's place. Not long after his mother's 
departure, his father failed in business in the city of New- 
York, where he then resided, and the family was in conse- 
quence reduced to very narrow circumstances in life. This 
unexpected change in their condition gave them peculiar dis- 
tress on account of this much-loved child. They had nursed 
and cherished him with united affection ; they had watched 
over the talents which he displayed, and the promise which 
he gave of future usefulness, with the deepest interest ; and 
it was to them a subject of particular anxiety that he should 
be properly educated for ultimate usefulness in the world. 
The hope of accomplishing this favorite purpose appeared 
for the present to be frustrated. But that God who had 
appointed for him his future work, was leading him to the 
attainment of a preparation for it, in ways that he knew not; 
and it is truly instructive to see how, in all his course of life, 
the same hand was secretly but surely directing him to his 
final point of labor and usefulness, " guiding him by his 
counsel, that he might afterward receive him to glory." 

God directed the heart of one who had but little to spare 
of the goods of this world, to minister of her small substance 
to his present necessities. An aunt of his mother, a maiden 
lady, who was particularly attached to her, requested that 
he might be sent, at her expense, to the Episcopal academy 
at Cheshire, in Connecticut. The object in this choice was 
not only the benefit of an education in that valuable school, 



18 MEMOIR OF 

then under the direction of the Rev. Dr. Smith, but also to 
separate him from the temptations so incident to the circum- 
stances of a popular boy in a large city. At Cheshire he 
became an universal favorite, and his father received great 
delight from the accounts which were given him of his 
correct deportment and improvement in study. Even at 
this period of his life, although there is no special evidence 
of a direction of his own mind to the subject, his name 
seems to have become connected with the ministry of the 
Gospel, and Dr. Smith used to say of him in reference to 
his excellence as a scholar, and his purity of character and 
conduct, that he would be the "Bishop Bedell" of America, 
in allusion to the celebrated Bishop Bedell of Ireland,* a 

* The following account of this distinguished man is taken from 
Lempriere's Biographical Dictionary: 

"In this high station, (Bishop of Kilmore and Ardagh,) Bedell 
behaved with that strong sense of propriety which his private manners 
so much promised. He exhorted his clergy to exemplary conduct and 
residence; and to show them his own moderation, he resigned the 
bishopric of Ardagh. His ordinations were public and solemn. Ex- 
ample was made to go hand in hand with profession in the great 
business of religion, and in a synod of his clergy which he convened 
for reformation, some canons were enacted, excellent and conciliatory. 
A strong advocate for the Church, he always abhorred the persecution 
of the Papists, and supported the justice and rights of his cause by the 
arms of meek persuasion, not of virulent compulsion. The Liturgy, as 
well as the Bible, was translated into Irish, and every method pursued 
which might inform and enlighten the minds of a rough and uncivilized 
peasantry. So much exemplary meekness did not go unapplauded. 
When the country was torn by rebellion in 1641, the Bishop's palace 
was the only habitation in the county of Cavan that remained unviolated. 
Malice, however, prevailed; the rebels, who declared that the prelate 
should be the last Englishman driven from the country, demanded the 
expulsion of the unfortunate men who had fled to his roof for refuge? 
and when he continued firm to his refusal, he and his family were seized 
and sent prisoners to the Castle of Cloughboughter. The horrors of 
confinement, and more particularly the misfortune of his country, how- 
ever, broke his heart; he expired on the *7th of February, 1641, in the 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 19 

man as remarkable for his personal excellence of character, 
as he was distinguished in his ecclesiastical station. The 
points of resemblance in his character to this illustrious man 
in subsequent life, although the providence of God never 
exalted him to a similar station in the Church, were not a 
little remarkable. The same meekness, and gentleness, and 
moderation — the same kindness to others, and zeal for God, 
shone with a bright and holy lustre in them both. 

Yv T hile Bedell was at Cheshire, an incident occurred which 
afforded a beautiful illustration of the kindness of his temper. 
An anonymous letter was received by his father, .accusing 
him of a very gross crime. His father, confident in the 
innocence of his son, sent the letter to Dr. Smith, by whom 
it was laid before the trustees of the academy. Upon an 
investigation of the case, the charge was not only proved to 
be false, but to have originated with one of the scholars, who, 
in a spirit of anger for an affront which he had received, 
selected this method of revenge, and addressed the letter to 
the father of Bedell. The trustees considered the offense 
of such magnitude, that they expelled the offender from the 
academy. Bedell, though so much injured by him, pleaded 
earnestly that he might be forgiven, and permitted to remain. 
He desired to have his own character cleared from the charge 
of guilt, but had no wish that the one who had injured him 
should be punished. How valuable is the example of such 
kindness to others who may succeed him ! If, in mature 
life, they would follow in his path of excellence, let them 
learn, with him, to be gentle, affectionate, and forbearing in 
youth. 

Bedell remained about two years at Cheshire. Then the 

house of Dennis Sheridan, a Protestant, to whose care he had been 
intrusted. His memory received unusual honors from the rebels, who 
in a large body accompanied his remains, and fired over his grave in the 
church-yard of Kilmore, with all the homage due to a worthy man, a 
pious Christan, and an exempary prelate." 



20 MEMOIR OF 

means upon which he had depended for support again failed, 
and he was obliged to return home. On his return, the fol- 
lowing letter from Dr. Smith to his father, which has been 
accidentally preserved, accompanied him : 

" Cheshire, April 3, 1805. 
" Sir : Your son will hand you this. I have thought it 
advisable to send him home one week before the end of the 
session, as there is a disorder prevalent here, to which I sus- 
pect he is inclinable, from his tendency to have colds and a 
sore throat. For particulars, I refer you to himself. Towns- 
end has given me entire satisfaction, and I scruple not to 
say, that he bids fair to be a first-rate scholar. Nor is his 
disposition less interesting to me than his capacity. I can 
not refrain giving merit and good conduct this testimony of 
approbation, and more especially so, as we have had some 
students who have merited our highest censure. 
" I am most respectfully, 

" William Smith." 

After his return from Cheshire, all his hopes of obtain- 
ing a liberal education seemed, for a time, to be frustrated. 
But again the Lord, who was guiding him to future useful- 
ness by paths that he knew not, opened his path before him 
in a method entirely unlooked for. His sisters, with whom 
he had been an object of intense affection from his birth, 
resolved to devote the whole of their little substance, which 
had been saved amidst their father's misfortunes in business, 
to the education of this favorite boy. It proved to be a 
sum just sufficient to meet the expenses of his collegiate 
education, and though it required the sacrifice of all they 
possessed to meet the demand, they have always felt and 
expressed the highest satisfaction in the full recompense 
which they subsequently received in his character, for the 
efforts which they thus made to prepare him for ultimate 
usefulness to mankind. 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 21 

In 1807, he entered Columbia College, in the city of New- 
York, Soon after, however, his feeble constitution seemed 
to render him quite incapable for the prosecution of his 
necessary college studies. His confinement became very 
oppressive to him ; and overcome by his own weakness, and 
despairing of his ability to gain the education which he 
desired, he begged permission to give up his classical educa- 
tion, and to turn his attention to some other more active 
pursuit. His indulgent father was ready to yield to his 
wish ; but his sisters, inflexible in their purpose, induced 
him, by persevering persuasion and argument, to remain 
at his studies, and to finish his collegiate course. They were 
thus made the honored instruments of keeping him in his 
preparation for the work which was given him to do ; and 
when this circumstance was alluded to in his after-life, he 
never failed to express his sincere gratitude for their 
determination. During the whole course of his college 
studies, however, his infirm health placed a very serious 
obstacle in his way. His strength failed under the pressure 
of sedentary habits, and in a continued application to study. 
But this very weakness and difficulty was remarkably over- 
ruled for his benefit, by leading him to the acquisition, at 
this period of life, of an uncommon power of mental 
abstraction, the exercise of which characterized his habits of 
study through the whole of his succeeding life. This habit, 
with the aid of a very retentive memory, and a systematic 
arrangement in the discharge of all his personal duties, 
enabled him to accomplish great results with compara- 
tively little effort. To this habit of study he refers in the 
following extract from a letter of a later date than our pre- 
sent narrative, in reply to a friend, who had supposed 
him not sufficiently attentive and industrious in his 
studies. 



22 memoir of 

"March 10, 1816. 
u * * * Your first request is, that I would devote 
more time to my studies. Now the fact is, that I study 
much more than you may imagine ; not so much in time as 
in degree. My mind has become, by habit, accustomed to 
the most intense application while it is employed, and I can 
study more in one hour, than a person whose mind has not 
been thus disciplined, can study in three. While in study. I 
can totally abstract myself from every concern, and upon 
this abstraction, depends almost entirely the impression that 
is left on the mind. This is philosophically explanatory 
why no longer portion of my time is devoted to study. 
Another reason is, that my health will not permit long 
application. After studying intensely for one or two hours, 
my head is sensibly affected, and I am obliged to walk for 
the purpose of carrying off all unpleasant sensations." 

Notwithstanding the infirmities of his health, however, 
his rank as a scholar while in college was highly respecta- 
ble. His quickness of mind and liveliness and originality 
of conception gave him great advantage in classical and 
liteiary studies, though manifestly not conferring the same 
degree of facility in pursuing the more severe class of his 
college pursuits. His talent for original composition was 
quite unusual for a youth of his age. Some of the produc- 
tions of his pen during this period of his life would not be 
discreditable to a writer much his senior. Many of his col- 
lege exercises have been preserved, and it is highly interest- 
ing to trace through them the same characteristics, in style 
and thought, which distinguished the valuable productions 
of his later life. There is the same vein of delicate humor 
and wit, the same exhibition of cheerfulness and liveliness 
of temper, which have always marked him even in his 
graver writings, and which, while they add a peculiar charm 
to all his compositions, form an attribute so distinguishing, 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 23 

that his works would be easily recognized by one familiar 
with his style, without the addition of his name. 

While he was fond of original composition, and early 
acquired an unusual facility and readiness in this branch of 
his education, he also possessed a remarkable talent for 
public speaking. He was naturally an orator, endowed 
with a very peculiar share of those mental and physical 
qualities which are adapted for excellence in this important 
art. His early success in speaking, and his natural fond- 
ness for it, led him to a more frequent exercise of himself 
in it than most students are accustomed to. He manifested 
much wisdom and judgment in the improvement which he 
thus gained, and acquired means of influence upon others, 
which were employed for purposes of extensive usefulness in 
his subsequent life. In this he may be considered as a 
valuable example to other students ; not only to those who 
are preparing themselves for the high duties of the Gospel 
ministry, but also for such as have devoted themselves to 
other stations and duties in the great business of human 
life. In our country, every youth of talent and correct 
principles and deportment, has ail the avenues of usefulness 
and influence in society opened before him ; and no employ- 
ment, even in the lowest mechanic arts, should be allowed 
to divert from the proper cultivation of the mind and the 
external address, those who have been endowed with powers 
which may be made productive of good to others. But 
especially in the case of young men preparing for the pul- 
pit is attention to excellence in the habit and ability for 
public speaking indispensable. Whatever may be the real 
improvement of the mind, and the actual acquisition of 
knowledge, it becomes in the pulpit almost useless without 
a reasonable facility of expression, and a distinct, intelligi- 
ble, and impressive enunciation. 

The excellency of power in persuading men to be recon- 
ciled to God, and bringing them to the obedience of faith, 



24 MEMOIR OF 

is wholly of God, and is certainly tied to no mere human 
instrumentality. But in accordance with all his divine 
government, God uses in this case also the most natural 
and probable means of success. And though " excellency 
of speech and wisdom" are rejected and to be renounced, 
when placed in the stead of a " crucified Christ, the power 
of God, and the wisdom of God," they are accepted and 
blessed when they are brought in the simplicity of faith and 
with the spirit of prayer, to " adorn the doctrine of God our 
Saviour," and to sustain and honor " the glorious gospel of 
Christ." There is surely much danger in the preacher's 
exposure to a self-complacent and self-dependent spirit — to a 
laying of unholy hands upon the ark of God. And it is better 
to have no mind or knowledge, than to worship them and 
depend upon them as our god. But there is also great 
danger, in avoiding this difficulty, of running to an extreme 
almost as faulty, in exalting ignorance under the plea of 
giving more glory to God, and rejecting care, and study, 
and effort, in preaching the Gospel, because they are crea- 
ture helps. What human mind can measure the fullness of 
redeeming love, " into which angels desire to look" ? What 
mortal tongue can adequately unfold "the unsearchable 
riches of Christ" ? With the utmost powers and attain- 
ments of which man is capable, we stand but upon the mar- 
gin of an ocean whose length, and breadth, and height, and 
depth, each passeth knowledge. And none need fear, when 
all acquisitions have been gained, which are adapted to find 
out and utter " acceptable words," that they shall preach 
the gospel of Christ too well. Much as the Church needs 
men of faith, and prayer, and zeal, and love, she also 
requires and asks with particular earnestness, for men as 
her messengers and watchmen, whose intellect and manner, 
adorned with all that is attractive and excellent, shall not 
dishonor before a watchful world, the high trust committed 
to them, nor bring reproach and contempt, by rudeness and 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 25 

ignorance, upon the message which they are sent to pro- 
claim to mankind. 

The peculiar attributes of Dr. Bedell's oratory will be 
noticed in the proper place. The subject is here referred to, 
simply that it may be seen, and considered as -worthy of 
especial imitation, how early he commenced his attention to 
an attainment which, resulted in such ripeness of excellence 
as an instrument in the fulfillment of his ministry of the 
Gospel. 

Soon after his graduation at college, in 1811, he com- 
menced his preparation for holy orders under the direction 
of Dr. How, one of the assistant ministers of 'Trinity 
Church, New- York. At this interesting crisis of his life, it 
would be highly satisfactory to have had some adequate 
evidence of the development of that religious character 
which is so essential to a proper entrance on this holy work. 
But of this testimony we are entirely destitute. There is 
reason to believe that his own views had been turned 
toward the ministry from his childhood, and it is very cer- 
tain that the wishes of his family were always concentrated 
upon the same point. But at the time of his actual com- 
mencement of his preparation for it, there was no especial 
expectation of it in their minds, nor were they aware of any 
particular impressions of religion upon his own. His first 
attendance with them at the Lord's table, of which he had 
given them no previous notice, and which accordingly, in 
some degree, surprised them, was the first evidence which 
they received of any actual determination of his mind upon 
the subject of personal religion. He was remarkably 
averse through his whole life to the communication of his 
own feelings. Even with the most intimate companions 
and friends he abstained from conversation referring to him- 
self, and it was only as they were drawn from him with 
some degree of skill and perseverance, that such statements 
were ever made at all. The knowledge of this accounts to 
2 



26 MEMOIR 05 

us for this ignorance of his state of mind and plans of 
conduct at this period of his history, even in those who 
were the most intimately connected with him in life. Des- 
titute as we are of adequate information in reference to his 
peculiar views and feelings, as connected with these new 
circumstances of life, we have abundant reason to fear, from 
the very great change which subsequently occurred in the 
whole system of his views in regard to religious subjects, as 
well as from his habits of life after he had entered upon a 
preparation for the ministry, that there was a great defici- 
ency in him of proper seriousness of character and princi- 
ple in reference to this important step. And we can not 
but adore the forbearing providence of God, which wisely 
and mercifully guided him through unexpected paths, and 
in the midst of circumstances quite discouraging in their 
influence upon his future course, to that high sphere of duty 
and usefulness which he ultimately attained, exhibiting thus 
not only his unsearchable riches of mercy to his individual 
soul, but also his kindness and bounty to the many hun- 
dreds to whom this one was made the effectual messenger 
of grace and salvation, 

Mr. Bedell's buoyant and animated temperament, and his 
graceful and agreeable maimers at the period of life which 
we are now considering, made society attractive to him, and 
himself attractive to others. He was thus led into much of 
that gayety of habit and amusement which so generally 
marks the associations of the young in the higher classes of 
society in large cities. He was never at any period, even 
before his making a profession of religion, immoral in his 
habits, according to the standard of men, and much less was 
he so after this important act of life, but he was yeTj desti- 
tute of seriousness and spirituality of mind, and of what he 
would have himself subsequently considered as satisfactory 
evidence of religious character. 

Much as it ought to surprise us, that a young man should 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 27 

ever be encouraged to present himself as a candidate for the 
ministry without manifest evidence of a renewed and spirit- 
ual mind, such, it must be confessed, was, at the time in 
which he was thus received, far too generally the fact in the 
Church. And the reviving spirit of true religion among us, 
exhibits itself in nothing more clearly than in the elevation of 
the standard of character, both of the clergy, and of candidates 
for the sacred office. His own views upon this great subject, 
it is well known, became entirely corrected, and he looked 
back with sorrow and shame, to consider the inconsistent 
state of mind and character with which he had approached 
the altar of the Lord. During his course of preparatory 
studies, all that can be said of him is, that his standard of 
religious character and responsibility was not lower than 
that of many other young men at the same time under sim- 
ilar circumstances : a time at which we must acknowledge 
with much sorrow, worldly conformity was but too generally 
tolerated in Christian professors, and both communicants 
and ministers of the Church were allowed, without discredit, 
to mingle in amusements injurious in their tendency and 
positively sinful in themselves. Happy was it for Mr. Bedell, 
and happy has it been for many souls beside, that the Spirit 
of the Lord brought him subsequently to a knowledge of his 
sin, and to a total change in his character and habits ! Happy 
will it be for Ms younger brethren, if, in looking forward to 
the same high office, they will receive the benefit of his later 
experience, and avoid the early course of concession to the 
world by which he purchased it so painfully for himself. 
There can be but little danger of the attainment of too 
much spirituality of affection, and too great separation from 
the frivolities and corrupting influence of the world, for 
those who have professed to give themselves up to God, and 
especially for those who have separated themselves for the 
ministry of the Gospel of Christ. 

Few young Christians and candidates for the ministry 



28 MEMOIR OF 

understand how uniformly concession in what is hurtful or 
wrong, in reference to the interests of their souls, creates 
obstacles to their success in duty, and sources of abiding 
unhappiness to themselves. Compromise of principles, 
though often made under the plea of winning others, to 
adopt what is thus yielded for the sake of winning them, 
finds its usual result in unsettling the minds of those who 
yield, and in provoking only contempt and neglect from 
others for whom the concession is made. Let us look to 
the law and example of our Savior Christ, and in the deter- 
mination simply to follow him by his Spirit, let us learn to 
leave the results of duty wholly in his hands. 

Mr. Bedell resided in the city of New- York until he was 
prepared for orders. He was allowed here to enjoy the 
particular kindness and friendship of the Eight Reverend 
Bishop Hobart of that city, for whom, at this time, he 
entertained an affection and respect amounting, in his own 
expression, to adoration. The peculiar religious views in 
which he was educated for the ministry were especially 
those with which Bishop Hobart's name has become so 
identified in the American Church, and of the justice of 
which Mr. Bedell had at this time no doubt. So great was 
his veneration for the judgment of this distinguished man, 
and so certainly true did he consider his views of doctrine, 
that he was accustomed, subsequently, to say in reference 
to his early ministry, that for its first years he " preached 
Bishop Hobart." Circumstances afterward led him, through 
the providence of God, to an examination of these views, and 
to the assumption of the very different ground which, in 
his useful ministry, he was known to occupy. But though 
he honestly followed out his own convictions of duty in this 
important matter, no circumstances ever changed the affec- 
tionate kindness with which he regarded the friend under 
whose ministry, as his pastor, he had been educated, and 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 29 

by whose judgment he was so unhesitatingly guided in his 
early life 

He was ordained Deacon by Bishop Hobart on the 4th 
of November, 1814, within one week after he had attained 
the canonical age. His very uncommon powers as a public 
speaker, united with his youth, immediately arrested much 
attention. In reference to his first sermon, which was 
preached in Christ Church, New- York, on the Sunday after 
his ordination, under circumstances of much bodily indispo- 
sition, it was remarked by a distinguished gentleman present, 
that "he seemed as much at home in the pulpit, as if he had 
been born there." Through the winter and spring after his 
ordination, he was engaged in a journey through some of 
the southern cities, and the recollections of those with whom 
he then associated, exhibit him as a general favorite in the 
circles which he visited. His musical talents, added to his 
peculiar vivacity of spirit, and cheerful pleasantry in conver- 
sation, made him everywhere acceptable as a companion, 
while much admiration followed him in his public appear- 
ance in the pulpit. But there are no recollections which 
bring to light, at this period of his life, those useful and 
sanctified traits for which the Christian's eye searches the 
character of the youthful minister of Christ, and which, in 
connection with his brilliant and attractive powers of mind 
and person, would have been esteemed so especially precious, 
and so adapted to influence others for their good. The 
impressions made upon the memory of his hearers by his 
public addresses at this time, were yerj marked. But they 
were those of admiration for man, not of submission and 
love to God. Though twenty years have now passed by, 
many who heard him then hi public, are still found to speak 
of him as very wonderful for his talents as a public speaker, 
and to repeat the subjects and outlines of his sermons, 
which then made a strong impression upon their minds. 

Poor indeed, however, will be a retrospect upon the mere 



80 MEMOIR OF 

admiration of men, before the judgment-seat of Christ, for 
the minister of Jesus ! His only crown of rejoicing there 
is the souls who have been brought, by his labors, home to 
God. If he have not this, he is far better without the other. 
And it would have given pious minds far more joy to hear 
of the spirituality of conversation and conduct distinguishing 
this youthful minister, even though but a single soul had 
been permanently blessed through his instrumentality, than 
of all the amount of passing favor which he gained with the 
world. His own subsequent retrospection, too, would have 
been far more happy and comforting to himself, could he 
have looked back to see an ardent love for Christ and the 
souls of men guiding him with its constraining power from 
the commencement of his ministry. We may and must 
adore the grace which subsequently led him by ways that 
he knew not to embrace the whole "truth as it is in Jesus;" 
but we must also exhort and admonish all who look forward 
to the same holy station, to see that they enter upon their 
work, with hands clean and hearts sincere. Nothing so 
adorns the character of the most youthful minister of Christ, 
as uniform and overruling spirituality of mind, and a con- 
versation which manifestly exhibits his great object in life, 
to be the glory of the Saviour and the honor of his Gospel. 
Beyond all literary attainments is the importance and value 
of this holy conformity of mind and character to Christ, this 
experience in a renewed heart of the power of grace, to be 
regarded. And the duty and privilege of obtaining this, 
can not be too seriously impressed upon those who are pre- 
paring for the ministry ; nor the duty of seeing that they 
are not manifestly deficient in it, upon those to whom the 
Church has in any way committed the care and supervision 
of their studies or their character. Many undoubtedly come 
forward to offer themselves as "ambassadors for Christ," 
whose hearts are but lightly affected with a sense of the 
responsibilities and obligations which they assume. Of 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 31 

them, few comparatively are allowed, like Mr. Bedell, after- 
ward to taste and obtain "the grace of life." The majority- 
go on in a heartless, fruitless ministry ; knowing no Saviour, 
and preaching none ; having no attending power of " the 
Holy Ghost sent down from heaven" to awaken the souls 
of sinners, and revive the spirit of religion under their efforts, 
and passing at last to the "judgment-seat of God, with no 
redeemed souls as their crown of rejoicing in the day of the 
Lord Jesus." Such unworthy ministers are a curse to others, 
and rejected and condemned themselves. Oh! that our "sons 
of the prophets" would look and be admonished ! That they 
would all seek to have Christ first "revealed in them," that 
they may preach him with success to others ; to have him 
formed in their hearts, as the hope of glory, that they may 
be themselves presented, and be able to present others 
before God, "perfect in Christ Jesus!" 



32 MEMOIR OF 



C H A P T E E II. 

Settlement in Hudson — Comparison of Sermons — Efforts in Ins Minis- 
try — Deficiencies — Marriage — Prospects of Removing to New- 
York — Disappointment — Removal to Fayetteville. 

"VVe have now to contemplate the character of Mr. Bedell, 
under the new circumstances and in the responsible situa- 
tion of a settled pastor. After his return from his southern 
tour, he passed a few months with his father in the city of 
New r -York. Here he received invitations from several 
different quarters, to engage in the duties of a parochial 
ministry. For a little time he hesitated in his decision 
among them, in regard to an important opening presented 
to him in one of the southern States. But his great anxiety 
to "be near his father and family induced the determination 
to remain in his native State, and he subsequently accepted 
the charge of the Church at Hudson, on the North River. 
He removed to this place in the beginning of the summer 
of 1815. 

His first sermon at Hudson, as the minister of the church, 
was delivered on the 4th of June, from the 41st and 42d 
verses of the 5th chapter of the Acts : " And they departed 
from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were 
counted worthy to suffer shame for his name ; and daily in 
the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach 
and to preach Jesus Christ." In this sermon, the subject 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 33 

upon which he designed to speak, was " Gospel preaching.*' 
It was a subject well chosen to show how far he understood 
for himself, or was able to exhibit to others, the great and 
important principles which are involved in Gospel preaching. 
And we have found in it just those partial and imperfect 
views of divine truth, which a knowledge of his previous 
education and character would have led us to expect. It 
may be considered as also providentially appointed, though 
undesignedly by him, as illustrative of his future ministry ; 
of which the " teaching and preaching Jesus Christ " was 
the peculiar characteristic. And in doing this, though 
among the pious portion of the community he was highly 
honored, he did not fail to endure his portion of shame and 
hostility in the world for the Saviour's sake. 

From this discourse it is manifest that he did not then 
understand the great doctrine of " Christ, the wisdom of 
God, ana the power of God," in the justification and sancti- 
fying of the believer's soul. Nor had his mind been led to 
a proper conception of that want in man and that provision 
in the Saviour, which must always be the foundation of 
Gospel preaching. But there was a spirit of seriousness in 
the contemplation of his own duties, which was the encou- 
raging dawn of a better day, and which shows him to us, 
even then, under the incipient guidance of that Spirit, who 
was eventually to lead him into all truth. 

An incident which has been communicated by a highly 
respected brother in the ministry, the Eev. Dr. Henshaw 
of Baltimore, will be interesting here, as giving, in some 
degree, an insight into the probable instrument of producing 
this manifest increased seriousness of spirit, as well as }3er- 
haps of much assisting the subsequent entire alteration of 
his religious views. And it is a deeply interesting tact, that 
the same honored minister of Christ who was probably 
thus an instrument in the hand of God of leading his mind 
to a right foundation, should have been afterward the one 
2 



0<± MEMOIR OP 

appointed also to receive his rich and precious dying testi- 
mony to the value of those glorious truths then most clearly 
received and enjoyed, which he now began to see " through 
a glass darkly." 

" On the Sunday after taking charge of St. Ann's Church, 
Brooklyn/' Dr. H. writes, " I preached two sermons upon 
the 'nature and effects of evangelical ministrations." 

"Mr. B., then, I believe, a candidate for orders, or re- 
cently ordained, was an attentive hearer of the sermons ; 
but I have reason to believe that there was little in their 
doctrines or spirit that was congenial with the views then 
entertained by him. About the time, however, when he 
was invited to take charge of the Church in Hudson, he bor- 
rowed those sermons and retained them several weeks. It 
struck me as a remarkable circumstance at the time, consi- 
dering the difference in our views, and I could not but cherish 
the hope and offer the prayer that the Lord's hand might 
be in it, and that it might be overruled for good. Whether 
the hearing and subsequent perusal of those sermons pro- 
duced any effect upon the views and feelings of my young 
brother in the ministry, in reference to the spirit, the re- 
sponsibility, and the duties of the pastoral office, it is impos 
sible for me to say ; but I have always entertained a hope 
that divine grace was then opening his mind and preparing 
his heart for the reception of those evangelical doctrines 
which were afterward so precious to his own soul, and of 
which he was for many years a living witness and success- 
ful advocate." 

The full opening of Mr. Bedell's mind to those great prin- 
ciples of doctrine which marked his later ministry, appears 
to have been very gradually attained, and yet it may be de- 
cidedly traced through the whole of his subsequent preach- 
ing, the most of the materials of which have been subjected 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 35 

to my inspection. He had evidently undergone a radical 
change in his views of divine truth, while he resided in Hud- 
son. But all this was as only the faint commencing of that 
" shining light which afterward shone more and more unto 
the perfect day." Even so late in his life as through his 
whole ministry in Philadelphia, the enlargement of his mind 
was seen to be still progressing, and his preaching growing 
every year more simple, apostolical, and evangelical in its 
character, as he approached the glorious termination of his 
course. 

In order to gain a proper apprehension of this change in 
his views of truth, as it was exhibited in the alteration in 
his style of preaching, it will not be uninteresting here to 
compare some extracts from this first sermon, as it was 
preached in Hudson, and as it was again preached as the 
introduction of his labors at Fayetteville, a little more 
than three years after. And though it is in some degree 
anticipating the regular current of events, it will have the 
effect of showing the result which, by the grace of God, he 
attained in this short period of his ministry, and to gain 
which he was required to go through many trials, and to 
learn much by a painful experience. Our first extract will 
be in reference to the opposition of men to " Gospel preach- 
ing." As the sermon was preached in Hudson, the follow- 
ing passage stands thus : 

" Here then it is that our exertions are apt to be mis- 
taken, and our well-meant endeavors attributed to motives 
of an uncharitable nature ; and he who feels it his duty to 
preach the terrors of the Lord, is often stigmatized as un- 
friendly to the comfort and the social happiness of man. 
Did we, indeed, seek to make men pleased with themselves 
and with us, our task would be infinitely more easy, and 
then our continued, reiterated discourse should be, ' Let us 
cat and drink, for to-morrow we die.' But when we think 



36 MEMOIR OF 

of our obligations, when we remember that it i& ours, through 
the blessing of God, to prepare the way by which men may 
attain the happiness of heaven, and that if any are dashed to 
pieces amidst the rocks and quicksands which it was our 
duty to point out, we are to be answerable, it is surely not 
only our duty, but our interest, by motives the most power- 
ful, by exhortations the most urgent, not only to save the 
souls of those who hear us, but also to shield our own from 
the sentence of condemnation. Therefore it is, that our duty 
to God is to be regarded, rather than deference to man or 
man's judgment, and any imputation is far better than that 
of an unfaithful servant." 

In preaching the same sermon at Fayetteville, beside 
some important corrections in the preceding passage, the 
following is introduced immediately to succeed it, which ex- 
hibits ideas of divine truth altogether more clear, and be- 
yond any which he had gained before : 

" I am aware, my brethren, that in these doctrines of grace 
which I shall feel it my duty to preach, there will be many 
particulars which ever have and ever will meet the oppo- 
sition of the carnal heart ; for when we seek to hold up men 
to themselves as they are by nature, the picture can not fail 
to be displeasing ; and when we preach that godly sorrow 
which brings the sinner to the foot of the cross, and works 
repentance not to be repented of; when we speak of and 
urge that change of heart by the power of the Holy Ghost 
which is essential to salvation, every evil principle in the 
bosom is to be overcome ; pride will raise the standard of 
its opposition, and fight boldly the battle of its master, and 
it is grace alone which can conquer it. I shall strive to 
preach the truth without offense in the manner ; as it regards 
the matter, my friends, I have but little hope that it will 
fare better with me than it always has with others. It has 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 37 

never been cordially received till grace has prepared the 
way." 

The following passage forms the conclusion of the sermon 
as it was preached in Hudson : 

" I trust, brethren, that the connection now commenced 
will give rise to feelings which shall render my services not 
the mere discharge of duty, but the exercise of friendship ; 
and it will be my endeavor so to order my conduct and con- 
versation among you, that I may gain, not only the appro- 
bation of your lips, but what is dearer, what is infinitely 
more valuable to the heart endued with the least sensibility, 
your attachment and your love. 

" I am, at least, to expect your cordial cooperation in 
any thing which shall tend to advance the interests of the 
kingdom of. our common Master, the Lord and Saviour 
Jesus Christ. In the public worship in the sanctuary, I 
shall expect your attendance ; in the ordinances of the Gos- 
pel, your devout participation ; and above afi, let me beseech 
you, that when your prayers are addressed to the throne of 
grace, you remember him whose constant occupation it shall 
be to labor for your good, and to pray to God for your 
temporal and eternal welfare ; so that when the great Judge 
shall make up his account, and we shall all meet before his 
throne, you will be able to answer unto God for the strict 
performance of your Christian duties ; and I, in the joy of 
my heart, to exclaim, s Father, these are they which thou 
hast given me.' '' 

To this, with some important alterations also, in its lan- 
guage, the following impressive conclusion was added, when 
the sermon was preached in Fayetteville : 

" To that period, my beloved friends, to that period of 
deep and of solemn interest, I would direct your attention ; 



38 MEMOIR OF 

for there the everlasting condition of our souls must be 
finally determined. It is a matter not more serious to me 
than it is to you, that this Gospel which I preach is, on the 
authority of God, established as a savor of life unto life, or 
of death unto death. If you receive this Gospel from my 
mouth as but the idle wind which you regard not ; if, instead 
of seeking to profit by its sacred instruction, you continue 
careless and unconcerned, oh ! what an awful deficit must 
there be in your final settlement. I speak it in the fear of 
my soul, that this gospel which I preach must appear as a 
witness against those who, having lived under its sound, 
have yet died without the experience of its saving benefits. 
O my friends, ' seek ye the Lord while he may be found, 
and call upon him while he is near." 

"Do but earnestly seek an interest by a living faith in 
this Jesus Christ whom I have sought, and under the bless- 
ing of God will yet seek to preach, and all will be well. 
The Church shall be edified, and, walking in the fear of God, 
and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, be multiplied ; and 
you, redeemed and sanctified and saved by this same Jesus 
and his grace, shall be numbered among that great multi- 
tude, who, having gone to Zion with songs and everlasting 
joy, shall surround the throne, and the theme begun with 
you on earth, shall be perfected in heaven: 'Blessing, and 
honor, and glory, be unto him that sitteth on the throne, and 
to the Lamb for ever and ever.' " 

In the comparison of these extracts, the enlightened 
reader will not fail to see, and to mark with much rejoicing, 
in how great a degree, during his short ministry at Hudson, 
his views of truth were enlarged, and his adaptation to the 
great work of " teaching and preaching Jesus Christ n was 
improved. For this important change we can not but look 
up to the Holy Spirit of God as the great source of the 
inestimable benefit, and ascribe to Him the glory of thus 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 39 

teaching and qualifying his chosen instrument of so much 
ultimate good to men. The progress of this change in his 
views of truth, and the severe and trying discipline by which, 
through the blessing of God, it was attained, during his 
ministry at Hudson, we shall be able to mark with some 
distinctness as we proceed. 

With this introductory sermon, he entered upon the 
duties of his parochial ministry. He was far too young and 
inexperienced to be intrusted with this solemn responsi- 
bility. But he became immediately in some degree aware 
of the importance of the charge which he had assumed, and 
he laid out for himself a scheme of labor in the fulfillment 
of it, which certainly displayed the desire and determina- 
tion, according to his ability, to make his ministry useful to 
the flock under his care. And though there was much in 
his deportment that indicated a state of mind too light for 
his station, and wanting in that seriousness which is expect- 
ed in every professed follower of Christ, and yet more in 
every minister of the Gospel — much over which the spirit 
of an experienced servant of the Lord would have mourned, 
as likely to prove a stumbling-block in the way of others, 
as well as to be an injury to himself; there was much, also, 
to encourage the hope that he would be made eventually 
an important instrument of good ; and to convince all, that 
indolence at least, was not combined with levity in him. 
He was, from the begimiing of his ministry, active and 
willing to exert himself in what appeared to him likely to 
be useful. And had he met with experienced and pious 
friends, who could bear with his infirmities, and, rejoicing 
over what the Lord was doing for him, would have led him 
to " a more excellent way," he might have been saved much 
suffering, and at a much earlier period have been led to a 
full knowledge of the truth. 

In the earliest part of his ministry, he established Sun- 
day-schools in the church, and opened a weekly Bible-class 



40 MEMOIR OF 

for persons of an adult age to be instructed by himself. 
These institutions, which have since become so extensive 
and important, were at that time almost unknown. There 
were few Sunday-schools in the United States in operation 
so early as 1815, and still fewer Bible-classes for persons 
of adult years. In these efforts Mr. Bedell met with some 
opposition, and their efficacy was much disputed. He per 
severed, however, in his valuable plans, and was gratified 
in finding very happy results from these his first exertions 
for the congregation committed to him, When his subse- 
quent important instrumentality in this department of 
ministerial influence, which will be exhibited in his succeed- 
ing history, is considered, it can not but be interesting to 
know how early his attention was called to it ; and that as 
his mind was receiving light in the truth of God, his heart 
was expanding with the desire to communicate the benefits 
which he thus gained to others. Indeed, this fact presented 
one of the most lovely and attractive features of his cha- 
racter through his whole life. There was an open simpli- 
city and a frank desire to communicate happiness to others 
in every way possible for him, which strongly marked his 
disposition from his youth to his departure. And though 
at first, it might have been the mere expression of native 
feeling, without any special motive considered, it was sub- 
sequently converted to a settled principle of conduct, and 
being sanctified from on high, it was fully consecrated to 
the service of God in efforts for the spiritual good of man. 
"When he settled himself in Hudson, there seemed to be 
every thing about him in his native character calculated to 
engage the attention and affection of -friends, and to render 
him popular in his intercourse with them, though, as has 
been remarked, to the mind that had been taught to seek 
for spirituality of heart and life as the chief attribute of the 
Christian, and of the pastor of souls, there was a deficiency 
in him which must be observed with deep regret. In 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 41 

describing his early appearance, a gentleman who was one 
of the wardens of the church at Hudson at the time of his 
settlement, writes of him : 

" When Mr. Bedell first came among us, I considered 
him as more committed to me than any other. He was 
young, and cheerful and gay in his disposition. I gave him 
an invitation to take up his abode at my house in the 
country, free of expense. This he declined, and took his 
residence in a highly respectable family of ladies in Hud- 
son, with whom he continued to reside for a considerable 
time. His conduct appeared to me at first perfectly exem- 
plary and unexceptionable. And the maimer in which he 
discharged all his ministerial functions, was gratifying to 
his congregation, and highly reputable to himself as a man 
of talents and genius. 5 ' 

fn this exhibition of his appearance and conduct at the 
commencement of his ministry, every fact accords with the 
spiritual condition in which he then was. Awakened in 
some degree to a sense of his duty, but having no clear 
views of the responsibilities which were laid upon him, 
there was the mingling, which was a natural consequence of 
such a state of mind, of effort to do good under the impres- 
sions which were made upon his conscience, and of a levity 
of character under the dominion of a mind still unsanctified 
by grace. He was industrious in his ministry. His preach- 
ing was frequent, generally as often as three times on the 
Lord's day, in his own church, or others in the vicinity. 
Nor was it altogether without effect. The Church flourish- 
ed, temporally, to an important extent ; and spiritually, in 
some degree, under his ministry. His popularity as a 
preacher, for one so young, was very great, not only in his 
own field, but also in New- York, which city, as the resi- 
dence of his family, he frequently visited. His visits to the 



42 MEMOIR OF 

city were anticipated by many with great pleasure, and 
frequent messages were received by him of eager inquiry 
for the time at which they might be expected. He became 
in his early preaching, a general favorite in the churches of 
the city, which were always full, and sometimes very 
crowded when he was expected to preach ; and his joopula- 
rity increased, as his ministry afterward became more deci- 
ded and spiritual, and he had learned " to know nothing 
save Jesus Christ, and him crucified." 

But while the mind thus rests with pleasure upon some 
aspects of Mr. Bedell's early character, which were in an 
uncommon degree amiable and attractive, the duty of the 
biographer will not allow the omission of results flowing 
from them, which were in all respects natural, and, by more 
considerate observers of mankind, to have been expected. 
His fondness for society, and his cheerful acquiescence in 
the plans of others to promote according to their own views 
the pleasure of social intercourse, acting under the guidance 
of his youthful and immature judgment, led him into too 
great a conformity to their habits and feelings ; which, 
though it was finally made the source of a severe and useful 
discipline to him, involved him in many obstacles and dif- 
ficulties, from which more discretion and holiness of heart 
would have certainly released him. His habits of expense 
were made to exceed his ability to meet them, and he was 
thus harassed with pecuniary cares which long distressed 
and encumbered him. His associations with young men 
whose character, from their want of true piety, could afford 
him no benefit ; and whose injurious influence, from this 
simple but most important deficiency, upon his feelings, his 
principles, and his ministry, was very apparent ; — associa- 
tions which were sought, not for the purpose of communi- 
cating spiritual good, but for the attainment of short-lived 
and thoughtless gratification, encompassed him with most 
effectual temptations to depart even from the standard of 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 43 

conduct which he had affixed for himself in entering upon 
his ministerial course. And for the time in which he yield- 
ed to the unsettling influence which was thus thrown around 
him, though there was never the remotest stain of immoral- 
ity upon his conduct, there was an inconsistency between 
his daily deportment and his manifest duty which the pious 
observed with sorrow, and which laid up also much sorrow 
for himself. 

This dark cloud, however, was of short duration. It soon 
passed over, and a most beneficial result upon his character 
was produced through its instrumentality. He set out in 
his own strength in the fulfillment of his work, arid he was 
suffered to fall, and to be deeply humbled and corrected, 
that he might be taught his own weakness and the necessity 
of a higher and better guidance, and learn to take up the 
cross to follow Jesus, as an instrument qualified to be use- 
ful to his fellow-men. "Without the trial and experience 
through which he thus passed, the peculiar and popular 
talents bestowed upon him might have been brought to a 
far different issue from that which they did attain, and have 
borne no other fruit than pride and sel£sumciency. Under 
their operation however, humbled and sorrowful, he sought 
peace for himself in a Saviour's love and power, and be- 
came the cheerful and animated herald of this love to 
others. 

In the year 1816, on the 29th of October, he was united 
in marriage to Miss Penelope Thurston, of Hudson. Of 
this lady, though she still survives him, it is but duty and 
justice to say, that God thus gave to him a most faithful, 
competent, and affectionate friend, one whose kind care and 
assiduous attention were successfully devoted, until the very 
closing of his eyes in death, to the promotion of his useful- 
ness, the increase of his comfort, and the melioration of his 
great sufferings and protracted sickness ; and whose duties in 
this connection have been rewarded with the undoubted pro- 



44 MEMOIR OF 

longing of his ministry, with the high estimation of his friends, 
and with the sure approbation of his Lord. The offspring of 
this marriag • are a son and daughter, both living, and worthy 
of a deep interest in the affections and prayers of the many 
friends who so much and so justly loved their lamented 
father. 

The influence of this event in the life of Mr. Bedell, upon 
his whole subsequent history, was very important. It was 
certainly made, in the hand of God, not only to promote his 
comfort and happiness, but also to increase his usefulness, 
and to alter his influence in the ministry to a most happy 
degree. In connection with it, he exhibited the peculiar at- 
tachment which he had for Bishop Hobart, both in postpon- 
ing the fulfillment of his wish in reference to it, in order that 
the Bishop might officiate in a crisis of his life so interesting 
to him, and in previously addressing him upon the subject. 

Under date of Feb. 26, 1816, he thus addressed the 
Bishop in reference to it : 

" It was my intention when I was in town last, to have 
spoken to you on a subject in which I am deeply concerned, 
and on which I feel that you ought to have been consulted. 
But really I knew not how to commence; and a feeling 
which I can not easily describe, induced me to delay till it 
was too late. You will perceive that I allude to the engage- 
ment which now exists between the youngest Miss Thurston 
and myself, and which is to terminate in a union, I trust, 
productive of our mutual happiness. At present, prudential 
motives will delay this ; but as there is a prospect of raising 
my salary in June to one thousand dollars, I think there 
will be no hazard in bringing the affair to a conclusion some 
time in October next. I hope, Sir, though you were not 
consulted, that you will view this circumstance of my life 
in a favorable light, and I am certain, did you know the 
lady, you would rejoice in my good fortune. Your advice, 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 45 

if necessary, on this, as well as on every other subject, I 
would gladly receive and attentively consider, for I deem 
myself under more obligations than I can well express, for 
the innumerable acts of friendship you have performed. 
You have made me what I am. And looking around upon 
the errors and misfortunes of some of my brethren, I pray 
that your heart may never have to lament that you raised 
me to the dignified station in the Church which I now 
occupy. I believe that I can truly say that the affairs of 
the Church here are in a flourishing condition, and I have 
been much more among my people than formerly. 

" With my respects to Mrs. Hobart, I remain, dear Sir, 
" Your son in the ministry, 

" G. T. Bedell." 

The very strong expressions of gratitude and confidence 
toward the Bishop, which occur in this letter, show the 
state of mind in which he had been educated, and under 
what strong convictions of duty and truth he must have 
subsequently acted, when he felt not only obliged to differ 
from him in judgment upon most important concerns, but 
also to avow this difference, and to act in accordance with 
it, in the leading characteristics of his future ministry. Yet 
to this stand he was brought, and while the point from 
whence he came is thus exhibited in the preceding letter, 
and the point at which he arrived will be seen in his suc- 
ceeding history, it will be our duty now to consider as 
distinctly as we shall be able to do it, the progress through 
which he was led between them. 

In tracing this important change which occurred in the 
religious views and plans of Mr. Bedell after his settlement 
at Hudson, some facts are present to us which are evidently 
marked delineations of its progress. The establishment of 
the American Bible Society in May, 1816, was one occasion 
on which a manifest change in his state of mind was deve- 



46 MEMOIR OF 

loped. The opposition of Bishop Hobart to this Society, 
from the time of its formation, is well known. It is no 
part of my present duty to consider the abstract propriety 
of this opposition, or to regard it any further than as a fact. 
the truth of which of course will not be questioned. This 
opposition led to a temporary controversy of considerable 
interest, in which the judgments of the clergy and laymen 
of the Episcopal Church were found much divided. At the 
first occurrence of this question, the opinions of Mr. Bedell 
entirely accorded with those of Bishop Hobart upon the 
subject involved. A further examination of it, however, 
constrained him to question the accuracy of his opinions, 
and furnished the first occasion of hesitation in him. in fol- 
lowing out to their full extent the judgments of his diocesan. 
He found himself here, after examination, compelled to 
differ from him, and it may serve to show the peculiar 
boldness and decision which were always united with his 
amiable and passive spirit, that he was prepared, on this 
important question, to acknowledge the change in his views; 
and to take the opposite side to one in whose judgment he 
had so much confided, and whose affection he valued so 
highly. But to this stand he found himself, through the 
grace of God, which was guiding him on to future duty, to 
be adequate ; and the circumstance, so painful to his sensi- 
tive spirit at the time of its occurrence, was made one 
instrument of leading him to a still farther course of inde- 
pendent examination for himself. The result of this exami- 
nation was the gradual and entire change of his views on 
many important questions and subjects in religion, to the 
standard to which they were ultimately conformed. 

Another circumstance, which is remembered by his family 
as having produced a very strong impression upon his mind, 
and as having exercised a decided influence in the change 
of his course of ministry, and of his associations in the 
Church, was the mild and satisfactory correction bv a 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 47 

brother in the ministry, already referred to. of an error 
into -which he had fallen, and of a misrepresentation which 
he had received and circulated, in regard to that brother. 
This explanation introduced the development of other 
views and habits of thought and action to which it naturally 
led. He found, in a further knowledge of the ministry and 
character of many of the clergy -who had been strangers to 
him. or whom he had seen only with the eye of prejudice, 
and whose society he had been taught to avoid, an adapta- 
tion to his own feelings, and to his opening views of truth, 
which immediately attracted him. In referring to this 
interview, that gentleman says, in a letter from which I 
have already given an extract : 

" I recollect having spoken to him during a session of 
the General Convention, many years ago, about a statement 
which I was informed he had made on board the steamboat 
in coming from New- York to Philadelphia, that I had held 
a prayer-meeting, or some public service, in the parish of 
another clergyman without his consent, and had especially 
prayed for the conversion of the Hector, ' as a blind leader 
of the blind.' He investigated the case, and found the 
statement which he had been made the instrument of propa- 
gating, to be an unfounded calumny. The conversation 
which took place between the clergyman referred to, and 
Mr. Bedell and myself, together with the result of his 
inquiries into the facts of the case, might, by the blessing 
of God, have exerted a powerful influence in changing his 
views of the principles and men £ everywhere spoken 
against ;' as it was not a very long time afterward, that he 
fully and decidedly espoused these views as his own." 

These distinctive views of evangelical truth, the great 
principles of the Reformation, he did afterward certainly 
fully espouse as his own. At that time, comparatively few 



48 MEMOIR 01 

of the clergy in the Episcopal Church were known to pro- 
claim them, and act upon them, in the fulfillment of their 
ministry, These few were most unjustly regarded as the 
propagators of " erroneous and strange doctrines,*' and as 
the patrons of irregular and disorganizing habits. And 
their names -were mentioned, and their conduct spoken of. 
generally, only to be held up to reproach. This was espe- 
cially the fact in the circles in which Mr. Bedell was accus- 
tomed to more. It required in him. therefore, peculiarly 
strong convictions of duty, and a deep sense of obligation, 
as well as a clear perception of what was right and true, to 
lead him to seek for his associates men whose names had 
been connected hi his mind only with reproach, and to 
adopt as his own a system and rule of ministry which he 
had been always taught to shun. Let God be praised that 
he had grace given to him to come out as an advocate tor 
the truth, and that he lived himself to see the very princi- 
ples which he had embraced when almost alone, become 
widely and triumphantly spread throughout the Church. 

In the year 1817. another train of circumstances occurred. 
which were made intimately connected with the change 
through which his mind was passing, and which exercised 
a most important influence upon the whole course of his 
subsequent ministry. He found, after the increase of his 
expenses which his new situation as the head of a family 
required, that his income in Hudson was insirmcient to meet 
his wants, and he felt obliged to seek for a situation which 
should be more adequate to the circumstances in which he 
was placed. On the 7th of March. 1817, he thus addressed 
Bishop Hobart upon this subject : 

" Right Rev. axd Dear Sir : 

4; It is rather an unpleasant subject about which I think 
it necessary to write to you at this time. But I write for 
advice. Owing to the peculiar pressure of the times, bear- 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 49 

ing particularly hard upon Hudson, it will perhaps be 
impossible for the congregation to raise for me another year 
one thousand dollars. Indeed, the vestry find it impossible 
to collect from the people the stipulated sum, and I am put 
to considerable inconvenience, owing to the defect in the 
present payments. Hudson itself is upon the decrease. In 
the spring, two or three families are going to the western 
country. Some of those who took pews in the church have 
thought best to join themselves to a preacher of universal 
salvation, who has established himself here. The head of one 
church-family is dead, and that of another removed to Phi- 
ladelphia, and by this both the families are broken up and 
lost to the Church. So that notwithstanding the church has 
been added to, yet the spring will find it diminished by four 
or five families. Although I have every attachment to 
Hudson, both as it regards myself, and in consideration of 
my wife, yet I deem it a duty, if any better situation can be 
obtained, not to neglect it ; for, unless the people here con- 
tinue me the salary of one thousand dollars, and pay it 
punctually, it will be utterly impossible to support my 
family. I should be particularly sorry to leave Hudson, 
because, though perhaps I ought not to say it, yet my popu- 
larity both as a preacher and a man is evidently increasing. 
But, nevertheless, I wish your friendly advice upon the 
subject, and your interest, if I must leave here, to favor 
me in procuring some more eligible situation. Though I 
should be more reluctant than I can well express to be 
obliged to quit your diocese, yet if no situation is to be 
obtained in this State, I should be pleased if you would 
take into consideration the propriety of my taking some 
steps as it regards the vacant parish of Hartford, (Conn.) 
Lest, however, I should be precipitate, I will do nothing 
contrary to your advice, by which I shall always deem it 
an honor and a happiness to be guided. 

i: I am, Dear Sir, yours, 
3 " G. T. Bedell." 



50 



MEMOIR OF 



The answer of the Bishop to this communication, if any 
answer was returned, is not in my possession. It was 
manifestly not such as to meet the wants of Mr. Bedell. 
He was still desirous and determined to remove to some 
other field of duty, and again on the 26th of June, 1817, he 
addressed another letter to the Bishop upon the subject, as 
follows : 

" Eight Rev. and Dear Sir : 

" It is with feelings of the utmost regret that I am obliged 
to express to you my final determination to quit this place, 
if any other situation can be obtained, even of less apparent 
advantages. Occupied as I know you are. with the higher 
concerns of the Church, yet the solicitude you have always 
manifested for my welfare emboldens me to obtrude my 
personal concerns upon your attention ; and you will not 
blame me when I explain to you the reasons which have 
induced me to make the determination. I was induced, upon 
the raising of my salary to one thousand dollars, to marry, 
and the promise was given me that this should be paid 
with punctuality. I feel perfectly convinced that upon this 
sum, regularly paid, I could here support myself quite 
decently ; but the money which has been paid has come to 
me in such a manner as to render it almost useless. These 
circumstances have arisen from the peculiar disadvantages 
under which this place labors as it regards money, the embar- 
rassments of both the banks, and their witholding discounts 
from every body. I do not complain of the vestry, for 
they have made every exertion in their power to collect the 
moneys due them ; but the people are so backward that they 
themselves are discouraged. I am happy to say that if I go 
away, I shall leave the Church, as it regards numbers, in a 
much better condition than I found it, and as I stated in my 
former letter, that my popularity and usefulness is increasing ; 
but all will not avail so long as the pressure for money 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 51 

involves both me and the people in various difficulties. These 
sir, are my reasons for wishing to leave this place, and for 
applying to you for advice and assistance in the furtherance 
of this object. I am willing to go to any place where there 
is a prospect of being able to support myself, for here I 
apprehend it is totally obstructed. 

" Trust me, my dear sir, that it is no spirit of change 
which has induced me to make this determination ; and it 
would produce far greater uneasiness in my mind than I 
now feel, should I be obliged to leave this diocese. Doubt- 
less, from your knowledge of the situation of the Church in 
this State and in the United States, you can give me advice 
of the most valuable nature, as it regards the course I had 
best pursue ; and I trust, from the assiduity with which I 
have pursued my studies since I have been here, that I have 
prepared myself for almost any situation which can be 
offered. My studies, together with the perplexities of my 
situation, have, I am afraid, tended to the detriment of my 
health, and I deem it of essential importance that some 
speedy arrangement be made. You will, therefore, my 
dear sir, favor me with an answer to this letter as soon as 
you conveniently can, for I am in hope that you may know 
of some situation in which my prospects can be bettered ; 
and though on account of my wife, who is distressed beyond 
measure at the idea of leaving here, I feel more than com- 
monly unpleasant on the occasion, yet the circumstances 
which you have just seen, and which are beyond my control, 
force me to the determination. 

" I am, dear sir, yours, 

"G. T. Bedell." 

It had always been the ardent and cherished wish of him 
self and his father's family that he might gain an ultimate 
settlement in the ministry in the city of New-York, the 
residence of his large circle of family relations. During the 



52 MEMOIR OF 

autumn of 1817, the prospect of gratifying this wish appeared 
to be near and certain ; and he looked forward with much 
pleasure to the door which seemed to be opening before 
him. The following letter from Mr. Bedell to Bishop 
Hobart will properly introduce this subject, the result of 
which furnished him such bitter disappointment and painful 
discipline, and will describe the situation to which his atten- 
tion and his hopes were directed : 

" Hudson, Oct. 14, 1817. 
" Eight Rev. and Dear Sir : 

'•Several times I have made an attempt to write to you, 
but have always been deterred by the fear that I might be 
encroaching too much on the kindness you have always 
manifested to me. Necessity, however, must triumph over 
fear, and I proceed to write to you on a subject which is 
deeply interesting to me. I must leave Hudson, and I have 
candidly told the vestry my reasons. The subject upon 
which I wish particularly to address myself to you is the 
vacant situation lately supplied by Mr. Berrian.* When I 
was in New-York, I frequently heard of conversations among 
several of the vestry as it regarded myself, and I should 
have mentioned the subject to you, had it not occurred to 
my mind that from the circumstance of your suggesting 
Binghamton and other places, you either thought me unfit 
for the station, or not likely to get it. Since my return to 
Hudson I have not heard a syllable on the subject ; and the 
anxiety of my mind urges me to wish to know whether, as 
it regards the situation in Trinity Church, I can have your 
approbation. Without it I never will think of even wishing 
that I might be called. I know full well that the situation 
is not a very eligible one, because I had heard from 

* Then assistant minister of Trinity Church, absent in Europe, now 
the Hector of Trinity Church, EF. Y. 



REV. DR. BEDELL, 53 

Mr. C- that he had understood they only meant to call 

for a year, and to give a salary of no more than one thou- 
sand or twelve hundred dollars. My reasons for wishing 
the situation, apparently so disadvantageous, are exactly 
these : that I think it absolutely necessary, not only on my 
own account, but on account of the Church, to remove from 
Hudson. I do beg you, if you can, consistently vrith your 
duty, to recommend me for this situation. I know it is ask- 
ing a great deal, but I feel also that I am unpleasantly 
situated, and that the call to New-York, for one year, would 
remove a burden from my mind ; and I am persuaded that 
I could discharge my duty with a zeal which shall give you 
satisfaction. 

" I shall leave here on Tuesday next for New- York, so as 
to be at Convention on Wednesday. I am so far recovered 
as to be able to be about without any inconvenience, and to 
preach as usual. 

" I remain, Eight Rev. and Dear Sir, yours, 

"G. T. Bedell.' 5 

The reply of the Bishop to this communication I have not 
seen. It is probable no written reply was made. Imme- 
diately after this he passed a night in Hudson, and visited 
Mr. Bedell at his own house. From the personal conversa- 
tions which he held with him in the presence of his family, 
Mr. Bedell derived such encouragement to hope for the 
station winch he desired, as to excite a full confidence in his 
mind that it would be certainly secured to him, and to lead 
him to enter immediately upon the arrangements which were 
necessary for his removal. His friends in New- York parti- 
cipated in the encouragement and confidence which he had 
received. His sister thus writes in reference to the expecta- 
tion which they had formed, and the grounds upon which 
they had been led to found it : 



54 MEMOIR OB 

" I never saw Bishop Hobart's letter, but I always under- 
stood that he wrote one, desiring Townsend to resign at 
Hudson. About the time that Townsend apprised us of the 
good news, Bishop Hobart called to see us. The conversa- 
tion is as fresh this moment in my memory as if it had 
taken place only last week. After he had spent some time 
in conversing with me about the comfort and pleasure it 
would give us all to have him in New-York, he said he had 
no doubt he would get there : he felt he had influence 
enough with the vestry to get him into Trinity Church. It 
appears to me I can almost see him now jump up in his 
lively and pleasant manner, and repeat : 6 Yes, I think I can 
manage it ; I think the vestry will call him. I have some 
influence with them.' These were the words he used. He 
moreover said, so sure was he that it would be done, that he 
had advised Townsend to prepare his people for it. This is 
the substance, if not his precise language, in the whole." 

The following statement from the gentleman before 
spoken of, as one of the wardens of the church in Hudson, 
concurs with the impressions which Mr. Bedell and his 
friends had gained from their knowledge of Bishop Hobart's 
wishes and designs as expressed to them. It may also pos- 
sibly indicate one source of the reason for the Bishop's 
change of determination and feeling in regard to the removal 
of Mr. Bedell, which had been under consideration. The 
conversation which is referred to at this distance of time, as 
taking place in the summer of 1817, undoubtedly occurred 
on the return of Bishop Hobart from the very journey 
during which he had held the conversation with Mr. Bedell 
already referred to in October, 1817 : 

" In the summer of 1817 I met Bishop Hobart on board 
a steamboat, on his return from a western excursion. In 
the course of conversation, the Bishop mentioned that he had 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 55 

been requested by some members of the vestry of Trinity 
Church to make an application to Mr. Bedell, to ascertain 
whether it would be pleasant to him to receive a call as 
assistant in Trinity Church ; that such an application had 
been made ; that Mr. Bedell had expressed himself well 
pleased, and he believed a call would be the consequence. 
I expressed peculiar pleasure at the prospect of Mr. Bedell's 
promotion, and the hope that he would be called. This 
appeared to excite surprise on the part of the Bishop, and 
he inquired of me the cause which could induce me to hope 
to get rid of Mr. Bedell. I at once replied that Mr. Bedell 
had fallen into bad habits and practices, and I thought he 
required the watchful eye and superintendence of the father 
of the Church ; that if placed under his peculiar charge and 
watchful care, I trusted he would become an useful member 
and an ornament of the Church to which he belonged ; but 
that if left to himself he would be an unfortunate failure ." 

The " bad habits and practices," to which reference is here 
made, the same gentleman describes in another portion of 
the same letter : a part of them I have already presented 
to the reader : 

"Some time in the year 1815, I believe, he associated 
himself with several young gentlemen in Hudson, and hired a 
house, and commenced keeping bachelor's hall. I condemned 
the connection, and apprehended danger to my young friend, 
and once cautioned him upon the subject. I soon dis- 
covered in Mr. Bedell a departure from his former course of 
public duty, and a negligence in the composition of his ser- 
mons. I discovered that his expenses exceeded his means, 
and that he was in the habit of borrowing from the members 
of his congregation. The congregation had become much 
dissatisfied with him, and it required a considerable effort 
to suppress the expression of their feelings. I stated (to 



56 MEMOIR OF 

Bishop Hobart) most, perhaps all, these circumstances, and 
also stated this : A Lutheran congregation, about six miles 
from Hudson, expressed a strong desire to unite with the 
Church, and their clergyman frequently called on me, and 
expressed a desire that Mr. Bedell should occasionally 
preach for them. The consent of the vestry was obtained, 
and Mr. Bedell preached for them several times. I attended 
to lead the responses, and distributed some twenty-five or 
thirty prayer-books. On one of these occasions Mr. Bedell 
informed me, as we were going to the church, that he should 
avail himself of a missionary's license, by omitting a por- 
tion of the regular services of the Church. To this I remon- 
strated. But he persevered ; and I believe thus terminated 
the whole concern." 

Under the circumstances in which Mr. Bedell was then 
placed, the hope of this invitation to New- York was in his 
view in a very high degree attractive and valuable. He 
yielded to what he understood to be a sufficient ground for 
action in the case, and at once commenced the arrangements 
for his removal. Although the situation to which he now 
looked was a temporary one, there was the prospect with it 
that it might lead to something desirable, which should be 
permanent. He accordingly resigned his charge at Hudson, 
and occupied himself in settling his domestic concerns, in 
preparation for an immediate departure for New- York. 

But while his hopes appeared to be so near their ful- 
acomplishment, some information which had been given to 
the Bishop, wholly concealed from him, entirely changed 
the Bishop's views in regard to the plan proposed for him, 
and his course toward him. Under date of Nov. 6, 1817, 
Mr. Bedell wrote to the Bishop, manifestly in reply to inti- 
mations which had been given to him of this attempt to 
alienate from him the good feeling of his early friend, in 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 57 

which letter, after again recounting and explaining all his 
pecuniary circumstances and difficulties, he says : 

" I feel, sir, that in many things I have acted imprudently. 
I have erred much through want of knowledge ; but my 
conscience is clear from any thing like such misrepresenta- 
tion. I have bitterly felt my imprudence and want of 
knowledge, and I trust by my earnest prayers I have been 
taught some lessons of value from my experience. But 
should I lose your good opinion, I should feel it more 
sensibly than all the rest. 

" With every sentiment of respect, 

"I am, sir, yours, etc., 

*"G. T. Bedell." 

On the next day after this was written, he received a letter 
from the Bishop, stating as a final determination in this 
matter, that something had occurred which rendered the 
contemplated removal to New-York wholly inexpedient, 
To this letter the reply below was immediately sent ; and 
when the ardor of his youth is considered, and the excessive 
disappointment of his long cherished hopes which he was 
required to meet is fairly taken into view, the peculiar 
strength of its expressions will not be surprising. He was 
contending with some secret foe ; and he found the power of 
this opposing influence but too irresistible in alienating from 
him the confidence of the Bishop, and apparently destroying 
£.11 his plans for usefulness and happiness in life. But from 
what source this opposition and misrepresentation came, or 
what was its nature, though he had afterward much reason 
to suspect, he was never able accurately to determine. The 
Great Shepherd, however, who was guiding him in all his 
ways, overruled even this excessive disappointment and 
mortification for the most important good : 

3* 



58 memoir of 

"Hudson, Nov. 7, 1817. 
"Right Rev. and Dear Sir : 

"I have this moment received a line from you by Mr. 
Osborn, which has added much to the pressure which has 
long been weighing on my spirits, and almost crushed 
every hope which, from the conversation I have had with 
you, I had dared to cherish. I understood that it was in 
your power to control the business as you pleased, and 
trusting to that I have spoken on the subject of my going to 
New- York for a few months, and my reputation must 
sustain an irreparable injury from the failure of any such 
arrangement. So deeply do I feel the truth of this, that 
rather than not be in New- York this winter, I will do the 
duty if the vestry will merely pay my board to my father, 
and if they are not willing to do that, I will even come 
without expecting one cent in remuneration — at any rate, it 
is my determination to spend the winter in New- York, that 
I may be able to look out for some place, and if none other 
can be procured, I will bury myself in the wilds of our 
western States, and if possible, survive the wreck of my 
fond though I fear vain expectations. I have been led on 
to believe, that the matter was by no means doubtful, and 
I have made arrangements for moving from this place. If 
things take the course which I fear they will, I shall have no 
desire to remain in this State, but will remove as far from 
the scene of my disgrace (for such I shall consider it) as 
possible. I shall ever be grateful to you, sir, for the part 
which you have hitherto taken in my welfare, and I still 
look up to you in some measure to promote my future 
felicity, but my feelings have been dreadfully wrought 
upon, and though my pride revolts from ever expressing 
how deeply I feel upon the subject, yet the consideration of 
my wife and family powerfully induces me to express the 
wish, that I may still have the situation. The expectation 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 59 

is also cherished by my father and sisters, and their feelings 
will be lacerated by the intelligence. In my present situa- 
tion, sir, I am not fit to write much. I am almost over- 
powered by the information given in your letter. I see my 
character in danger of being irreparably injured. I see 
my prospects blasted. But I must not run on. If I live I 
shall be at my father's by the 21st of this month, be the 
issue what it may ; and as soon as my wound, which is heal- 
ing tolerably well, will permit me to travel, I will commit 
my wife and child to Him who will take them under his 
protection and care, and praying for His guidance, seek my 
fortune. 

"I shall be exceedingly happy to hear the advice of * 

but no advice can be given which can heal the wound which 
has been made upon my feelings. I must leave Hudson, 
because I conceive that in many respects I have been injured 
by a residence in this place. 

"I see no way in which my reputation can remain unin- 
jured and my feelings at all consulted, unless I should get 
the situation which I had expected. If you can recommend 
me to preach for any thing or for nothing, I will consider 
myself as most essentially obliged to you, and pledge myself 
to retire after the six months, to any tolerable living. If 
this can not be done, I see but one way to act, to reside in 
the city at my father's until I can find a situation. 

"I send this letter, and upon the answer depend the 
most serious consequences to me. My only regrets are the 
unpleasant consequences which will result to my friends 
and family. 

"With every wish for your happiness and prosperity, 
"I remain, Dear Sir, yours, 

"G. T. Bedell." 

* The gentleman from whose letter extracts have been given above. 



60 MEMOIR OF 

"Since writing this, 1 have thought that the representa- 
tions probably made to you by some person inimical to my 
interests, especially in the matter on which my sister wrote 
to me, have produced a determination not to act in my 
favor. I had much rather this would be the case than any 
other reason, because I know that you have been falsely 
informed, and my conscience is clear. However I may fre- 
quently have erred in judgment, I feel no fear from the 
strictest scrutiny into the motives which have actuated my 
conduct. I hope that these things may not so affect my 
spirits as to injure my health. If that is but spared, I can 
weather any storm." 

By this disappointment Mr. Bedell was thrown into a 
very painful situation. And with his sensitive and sanguine 
temperament he felt most deeply under the mortification 
which it laid upon him. In the following letter to his sister 
of the same date, he expressed his own feelings to one who 
well knew how to sympathize with all his sorrows. 

"Hudson Nov. 7, 1817. 
"I have received a letter from the Bishop, which has hurt 
my feelings exceedingly. He told me the matter was 
pretty much at his own disposal, and conversed with me in 
such a manner, as to render the call in my mind reduced 
to a certainty. I have written to him, and told him my 
determination to spend the winter in New- York, be the issue 
what it may. I shall probably, in the event that I do not 
get the place, go to the southward as soon as I shall be ^vell 
enough to travel. I think my feelings have been very much 
sported with, in first giving me encouragement, and then 
damping it by telling me that the vestry wished to have 
the place supplied by some of the clergy in the neighbor- 
hood. You no doubt feel anxious about the result of this 
business, and the Bishop may have been prejudiced against 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 61 

me by some body, but you may rest assured that I feel satis- 
faction m the conviction, that whatever may be the result, I 
shall have nothing to blame myself with. After what has 
passed, and even preparations have been made for my com- 
irg to New- York, my reputation depends upon my being 
called, and I have told the Bishop that it is in his power to 
manage the matter if he pleases. I never will bring deserved 
disgrace upon myself, nor upon any of my family." 

It is a source of much regret, that we have not the letters 
of the Bishop to Mr. Bedell, in a crisis so important in his 
life. As it is, we are left to gather the contents and objects 
of them, from the character of the replies which were made 
by him. On the 14th of November he again wrote to the 
Bishop in reference to an answer which he had received to 
his letter of the 7th. The nature of that answer will be 
readily understood from this letter. The Bishop evidently 
wrote in a kind and affectionate maimer, and advised him to 
remain still at Hudson. 

" Right Rev. and Dear Sir : 

"At present I have but few words to say. I feel disposed 
to acquiesce in the advice you gave me, and since my friends 
here have heard the result of the proceedings in New- York, 
they feel for the unplesantness of my situation, and have all 
thought best that I shall stay. I feel grateful to the people 
here for the concern they have shown in my behalf, and am 
confident the vestry will request me to continue with them. 
I must confess to you, Sir, that I-feel very sore as it regards 
the treatment I have experienced, and that there are some 
mysteries about the business which, as I can not, I had best 
not attempt to unravel. For the present, however, I intend 
to content myself, and cheerfully to submit to my lot. 

"The reproofs in your last letter I can not but consider 
as just, and that I deserve them. For the future you shall 



62 MEMOIR OF 

never have a complaint of me on that score. That I have 
been unjustly represented to you in many things. I know ; 
hereafter you shall find no fault with me for any thing 
which it is possible for me to avoid. The reproofs of a 
friend shall not only be found faithful, but effectual. I 
trust, if I am precipitate and wanting in judgment and dis- 
cretion, I am not incorrigible ; and if you will continue to 
give me your advice, you shall find me ready to profit by it. 
That my feelings have been grievously hurt, I must not 
deny. I would write more, but my situation has so far 
overcome me as to induce a fever. I hope, by future more 
cautious conduct, to regain your good opinion. 

"Yours, Dear Sir, 

i; G. T. Bedell." 

In a review of all the preceding circumstances, it appears 
manifest that the alteration of Bishop Hobart's views in 
reference to Mr, Bedell arose from some unfavorable inform- 
ation which he had received in reference to his ministry 
and conduct at Hudson. What the information was, and 
from what source it proceeded, he never subsequently 
inquired of the Bishop, and it is left now wholly to our 
conjecture. But however we may feel disposed to lament 
the occurrence, as its instruments were concerned, as a 
dispensation of God we shall see most valuable results 
flowing from it, affecting Ins whole character, and the whole 
course of his future ministry. His embarrassment was 
painful and mortifying. But he did not allow it to affect in 
any way his feeling toward the Bishop, or his intercourse 
with him. Though he became subsequently so widely 
separated from him in opinion and conduct in reference to 
many questions winch have been agitated in the Church, 
he maintained always the most friendly and affectionate 
correspondence with him, nor was he ever heard to speak 
of him but with kindness and respect. Ignorant as we 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 03 

now are of the land of information which the Bishop 
received in reference to Mr. Bedell, it is not only vain but 
wrong to pronounce any opinion upon the justice of the 
course which he pursued. He was governed in it, undoubt- 
edly, by his own views of duty, and probably under the 
circumstances before him, acted with propriety and wisdom. 
He subsequently stated to the friends of Mr. Bedell, that 
he had not intended to give him the full assurance of obtain- 
ing the situation referred to, which had been gathered from 
his conversations with him. And it is quite possible, that 
in Mr. Bedell's ardor and solicitude, he calculated more 
strongly and decidedly upon the success of his hopes than 
the Bishop's communications really warranted him to do. 

But from the plain history of the facts as they occurred, 
which I have felt myself obliged to give, it is very manifest 
that Bishop Hobart's first intentions were in entire accord- 
ance with Mr. Bedell's wishes, and that the different issue 
to which they came was the result of information subse- 
quently communicated to him.* 

* The reason which has led me to dwell so minutely upon this 
occurrence in Mr. Bedell's life has been not only the vast and important 
influence which I find that it exercised upon his character, but also 
the conviction that the view which was given of it in the first edition 
of the Memoir was not entirely accurate. This reason will be better 
explained by the following letter written by me to the Editor of the 
Churchman in Xew-York, which, together with his introductory 
remarks upon it, I have here subjoined, that the statement which is 
now made may be seen to be entirely consistent with what that letter 
promised. 

i: BISHOP HOB ART. 

"It is known to many, although we are not aware that the fact has 
been hitherto publicly adverted to, that Dr. Tyng, in his Memoir of 
Dr. Bedell, advanced a statement in connection with the name of 
Bishop Hobart, of such a kind, or in such a manner, as very much and 
very justly to dissatisfy Bishop Hobart's friends. Private letters of Dr. 
Bedell to Bishop Hobart, in possession of Dr. Hobart of this city, were 



64 MEMOIR OF 

The effect of this discipline upon Mr. Bedell's character 
and ministry far more intimately concerns us. His remark- 
ably buoyant spirits had never received till now their 

laid before Dr. Tyng, which convinced him that the transaction referred 
to ought to have been placed in a more favorable light, and this con- 
viction has drawn from him the following frank, honorable, and per- 
fectly satisfactory reparation : 

11 'Philadelphia. Sept. 4, 1835. 
" 'Rev. and Dear Sir: 

" 'I take the liberty of employing your paper, as being the most suita- 
ble vehicle for my purpose, for the correction of some errors which 
occur in a passage of my Memoir of the Rev. Dr. Bedell. I refer to the 
incidents which are related from the 40th to the 43d pages. It is not 
necessary to cite the passage, as any who are concerned may have the 
opportunity to consult it in the Memoir. I was apprised, soon after 
the publication of the Memoir in May last, that my statement was in 
some degree erroneous. But as I could gain possession of no other 
documents which were connected with the subject than those which 
I had employed in compiling the Memoir, it was impossible for me 
either to know how erroneous my statement was, or to have any rea- 
sonable ground to correct it. "Within a few days, I have been furnished, 
through the kindness of a member of Bishop Hobart's family, with 
copies of various letters from Dr. Bedell to Bishop Hob art. which pre- 
sent views of the passage related materially different from those which 
occur in the Memoir. I gladly take the opportunity, therefore, to make 
the correction which truth and justice demand, and which, in a future 
edition of the Memoir, will be made in all its details, much more at 
large. 

" ' The impression is given on the 41st page, that the change of loca- 
tion which is spoken of originated in a spontaneous proposition of 
Bishop Hobart's. This is not. indeed, particularly declared, nor was it 
by me especially designed, but I find that such is the general under- 
standing of the passage. I have now abundant evidence before me that 
any such proposal of the Bishop's was in consequence of repeated and 
very urgent requests of Mr. Bedell's, previously made, and of his 
avowed determination to change the scene of his ministry. I am led 
further to think, from the style of the letters, that even under these 
circumstances. Bishop Hobart did not design to convey so decided a 
proposition to Mr. Bedell as he appeared to gather from his con versa- 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 65 

proper check. His ardent and gay mind had seen only 
what was attractive in this world, and his anticipations, con- 
nected with its scenes and prospects, were far too bright and 
enchanting to allow him properly to " seek a better country, 

tion. The impression is further given in the Memoir, that the change 
in contemplation was to a permanent location. This, I confess, was my 
understanding and design. I am now convinced that the whole sub- 
ject of any communication from Bishop Hobart to Mr. Bedell, which 
the latter understood to be an express invitation, was only the tempo- 
rary supply of the place of the regular incumbent who was absent in 
Europe for the year. This is a material correction. I am further con- 
vinced that there is no evidence that the disappointment of Mr. Bedell 
originated in any information of his change of views, conveyed to 
Bishop Hobart, but in other circumstances which are referred to, but 
not explained ; and that it is certain Bishop Hobart never designed to 
give him so much encouragement for hope as he suffered himself to 
entertain, and therefore could not with propriety be made responsible 
for the disappointment which ensued. I find from subsequent letters 
of Mr. Bedell's, that his own mind was not so much affected with any 
sense of the injury which he was supposed to have received, as were 
those of his friends ; nor does he seem to have lessened the reverence 
and affection which he entertained for the Bishop. In the whole cor- 
respondence I find nothing which is calculated to affect the character 
of Bishop Hobart unfavorably, and my opinion of the whole occurrence 
is much altered by the further information which I have thus received. 
It will be my design to furnish the readers of the Memoir with the 
most of this correspondence, in a future edition. 

" 'I had not, however, the least design of imputing any tiling to Bishop 
Hobart which he would consider wrong, in my relation of the event as 
it now stands. I considered it as one of the occasions on which he 
acted upon his own conviction of duty, and in a decided execution of 
his purposes, which I have always supposed to be characteristic of him- 
self. I hope the effect of the present communication may be, not only 
to remove any erroneous and injurious impressions from the minds of 
readers of the Memoir, but also to satisfy the friends of Bishop Hobart 
that I had no design to make any record which should be in the small- 
est degree disrespectful toward him. 

"'I am, with great regard, your friend and brother. 

11 'Stephen H. Tyxg.'" 



68 MEMOIR OF 

that is. an heavenly." But. from this time, he received : 
on high grace to refer all things immediately to God. He 
saw who had appointed the rod under which he had suffered, 
he bowed with new humility and submission to the cor- 
rection which he had received. He had erred through self- 
confidence ; and for this he had been chastened. In his sub- 
sequent life, he was most remarkable for the apparent total 
want of this self-confiding spirit. The most trifling and 
unimportant occurrences of his life were resolved into the 
subjects for divine direction. And all who were with him 
were habitually marking the sober views he formed of all 
expectations, and listening to his calm and sweet exj 
sion. "If the Lord will. I shall do this or that." 

This apparent crushing of all his worldly hopes, in the 
disappointment of his expectation of removing to New- York, 
induced a far more consistent and vigilant ministry. It led 
his mind to a more independent search for truth. All the 
obstacles which the influence of education and association 
had heaped in his path were now removed. He felt no 
difficulty in following out his own convictions, either in the 
acquisition of religious knowledge, or in the discharge of 
religious duty. The gracious Lord, who had been guiding 
him through all his difficulties, and preparing him. by their 
chastening operation, to "know how to speak a word in 
season to him who was weary." made the result of the whole 
a vast increase of true happiness for himself, and the means 
of most abundant blessings to others. But for such a dis- 
appointment of his youthful hopes, he might never b 
been separated from an influence which would have turned 
his future ministry to a very different course from that 
which did characterize it : nor have gained either that clear 
knowledge or deep experience of Gospel truth, for which he 
became so distinguished, and by which he was made so use- 
ful in the Church. 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 67 

In the situation to which he was brought by this disap 
pointment, though his prospect was discouraging, he found 
much to alleviate his fears. According to the hope which 
he expressed to the Bishop in his letter of the 14th of 
November, the vestry of the Church did request his con- 
tinuance with them, and the people manifested much sym- 
pathy and affection toward him. He accepted their invi- 
tation to remain with them, though he felt still convinced, 
as he wrote to the Bishop some months afterward, that it 
was expedient for them, as well as for himself, that he 
should remove. Under date of February 27, 1818, he thus 
says to Bishop Hobart : 

" Under the circumstances of my present situation at Hud- 
son, I wish still earnestly to leave them, as I am convinced 
I could be much more useful anywhere else, where I could 
commence anew, and upon much more correct views; that 
is, where I could commence and do my duties with much 
more stability, and in a mamier which I now know to be 
necessary, not only for the good of the cause, but for my 
own satisfaction." 

Having broken up his family arrangements in the pro- 
spect of removing to New- York, he did not again settle 
himself at house-keeping. An intimate relative of his wife's, 
immediately upon hearing of the letter which had dis- 
appointed his expectations, came to invite him to come with 
his family to his house, where he remained until his final 
removal from Hudson. He continued in this first scene of his 
labors another year, pursuing his ministry upon a new system 
andwith new feelings, when Bishop Hobart was made the 
instrument of sending him out into the extensive field which 
he subsequently occupied, and in which he began' as he had 
wished, a new ministry, with views of duty entirely corrected, 



68 .NfEMOIR OF 

and a heart engrossed in the great work to which he had 
been set apart, of "winning souls" to the love of Christ, 
and in which also signal blessings flowed upon his ministry 
from the groat Giver of every good and perfect gift. 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 69 



CHAPTER III. 

Removal to Fayetteville — Character of his Ministry — Peacefol Spirit — 
Interesting Instance of his Usefulness — Extemporaneous Prayer and 
Prayer-Meetings — Specimen of Preaching — Failing Health — Journey 
to the North — Necessity for Kemoval — Peelings of the People — 
Removal from Fayetteville. 

In the summer of 1818, nearly a year after the disap- 
pointment of Mr. Bedell's hope of removing to New- York, 
a gentleman belonging to the vestry of the Church in 
Fayetteville, N. C, was in New- York, commissioned to 
engage a minister for that church. He made application to 
Bishop Hobart for information in the discharge of the duties 
of this appointment, and the Bishop directed his attention to 
Mr. Bedell, as one likely to be adapted to such a station. 
In this recommendation of him to a new and important 
sphere of duty, by the Bishop, it is pleasant to see the evi- 
dence of his remaining confidence and affection toward Mr. 
Bedell, although such efforts had been made to pervert his 
feelings in relation to him the preceding year. The result 
of the information which his direction elicited, was, that 
immediately on the return of the gentleman referred to, to 
Fayetteville, a unanimous call from the Church in that 
place was transmitted to Mr. Bedell. The unexpected 
demand upon him, agitated and distressed his mind. It 
opened to him a field entirely new, very remote, and never 
before considered. He must leave his native territory. 



70 MEMOIR OF 

which as a residence he had never left before, to dwell 
among entire strangers. He must withdraw the prop of an 
only son from his father, bending under the weight of years. 
He must dwell in a southern climate, the effect of which 
upon Ins own health, and that of his wife, he much dreaded; 
and amidst circumstances peculiar to that portion of our 
country, not congenial with his own habits, or feelings, or 
principles. But though he hesitated much during his con- 
sideration of the call, when he came to the conclusion that it 
opened to him the path of duty, he delayed no longer. He 
gave up all his cares to God. and determined to follow at 
once in the way by which He was leading him. He had 
been ordained a Presbyter in July. ISIS, and in October of 
that year he removed with his family to his new field of 
pastoral labor in Fayetteville. 

Soon after his arrival in Fayetteville he addressed the 
following letter to Bishop Hobart. in which he speaks to 
him. and of him. with entire affection and respect, and gives 
evidence that with his altered views of religious truth, he 
had undergone no change whatever, in his attachment to the 
services and principles of the Church. The fact, which is 
thus displayed, will be exhibited most clearly through the 
whole of his ministry. I have never been acquainted with 
one whose heart seemed more truly bound to the institu- 
tions of the Church, and whose regularity and nice sense of 
propriety in conformity to them, were uniformly more 
manifest. This feeling with him was not assumption, but 
nature. It flowed out spontaneously and habitually, and 
without the necessity of watchfulness or effort. 

"Fayetteville. Nov. 23. ISIS. 
'•Rig-ht Rev. asb Dear Sir : 

"It was my intention to have written to you immediate 
upon my arrival here, but I was almost immediately attacked 
by a nervous headache, (consequent. I presume, upon the 



REV. DR. BEDELL. "71 

fatigues of the journey,) which completely unfitted me for 
every thing like mental, and for almost every thing like 
bodily exertion. I have, however, now nearly recovered, 
and hope soon to be quite restored to my former strength. 

"As it regards Fayettevilie, I am, upon the whole, much 
better pleased than I expected. The Cape Fear river is 
so low that our things are yet in Wilmington, and we are 
still at the house of that invaluable friend to the Church, 
Mr. Winsiow, where we are treated with the utmost hospi- 
tality, and every thing is done to render our situation com- 
fortable. The house which has been provided for us, is 
undergoing repairs. It has two acres of ground attached to 
it, part of which is a very fine garden. It is within two 
minutes' walk of the Church, and in the very centre of my 
parishioners. 

"The Church itself, owing to the great scarcity of work- 
men, is not yet finished, but we shall be able to get into it 
by Christmas. It is a little larger than the Church at Hud- 
son, built something in the Gothic, and is to be complete in 
every thing previous to any use being made of it. It has a 
fine organ, clock, and bell, and two gentlemen of the place 
have made it a present of a chandelier, and two branches for 
the pulpit, and two for the organ. The chandelier is of sixty 
lights, and cost in Liverpool one hundred guineas. The 
pulpit and desk have the common fault, that is, they are too 
high. The vestry room is back of the Church, and the 
ascent to the pulpit is from it. The cost of the Church, 
when finished, will be about seventeen thousand dollars. 
After the consecration, we calculate to have a regular history 
and description of the Church drawn up, and a profile sent 
for the Christian Journal, that our fellow Churchmen at the 
North may see what progress the Church is making in 
the South. 

"We have service at present in the academy, and the 
congregation is very considerable, and) I must say, as atten- 



72 MEMOIR OF 

tive an one as I ever preached to. The increase of the 
Church in this place is naturally to be expected from the 
rapid increase of the place, and, when she comes to be 
more known, from her peculiar excellencies. I have every 
reason to expect not only a comfortable, but when I shall be 
weaned from my Northern predilections, a happy settlement. 

" I wish, my dear sir, that you would write me your 
opinion as to the absolute authority of the use of the ante- 
communion service ; for, although I never mean to omit it, 
still I would wish to defend myself with some other author- 
ity than the by-some-disputed tenor of the rubric. 

"It would afford me much satisfaction to receive the 
journal of the last Convention, and whatever ecclesiastical 
news may be stirring at the North, I sent, a few days ago, 
to Mr. Onderdonk the journals of the conventions in this 
State, at Newbern and Fayetteville. 

" I must not forget to request you to direct to my uncle 
in Eichmond the necessary dismissory letter, as I shall wish 
to be instituted as soon as possible. 

" Mrs. Bedell and Miss Thurston are well, and together 
with myself, desire to be remembered to Mrs. Hobart. 
You will oblige me by making my best respects to all the 
clergy about you, and tell them that they would be doing 
real acts of charity if they would occasionally write to me, 
and tell me what is going on in the region in which I would 
gladly be. 

" With every sentiment of respect and love, 

" I remain, dear sir, yours, etc., 

"G. T. Bedell." 

In Fayetteville he was instituted as the rector of the 
church, and entered with great diligence and zeal upon a 
field of labor which was entirely new, but which he found 
to be highly encouraging. The Episcopal Church in North- 
Carolina was at this time composed of but few and scattered 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 



members. In Fayetteville a congregation had been collected 
by the Rev. Bethel Judd, both before and afterward a 
clergyman of Connecticut, who had been with them for a 
short time previous to this, and under whose labors they 
had commenced the erection of a house for public worship. 
When Mr. Bedell removed thither, the building was still 
unfinished, and the public services of religion were per- 
formed in the hall of an academy. Here he preached his 
first sermon in October, 1818, from which we have before 
given some short extracts. He was now entirely removed 
from early friends and associations, in a portion of country 
where the few ministers of his own Church were very widely 
separated from each other, and where he was obliged to con- 
sult, and determine, and act, in the concerns of his ministry 
entirely alone. These circumstances were made the occasion 
and instrument of fully developing his mind, and giving 
firmness and character to all his principles. 

We have seen him, in his short ministry at Hudson, under- 
going, amid discouraging and painful circumstances, a 
strongly-marked change in his religious views and habits. 
He came to Fayetteville with the full benefit of the educa- 
tion and experience through which he had been thus led, and 
entered upon a new field of duty, with a new style of preach- 
ing and a new system of ministerial action. Although this 
spiritual change in him had been gradually displayed, as 
noticed in his previous course, it exhibited itself very 
decidedly in the results which it produced in the commence- 
ment and through the whole course of his ministry in Fay- 
etteville. His great and unceasing desire "was for the spiritual 
conversion of his people ; and for the attainment of this he 
did not cease to " teach and to preach Jesus Christ." He 
labored and prayed for a reviving spirit of piety in the 
Church. Beside the stated services of the Lord's day, that 
he might increase the opportunities of his people to gain a 
knowledge and enjoyment of the truth, he established a 
4 



74 



MEMOIR OF 



weekly meeting for prayer and the exposition of the Scrip- 
tures at his own house. He gave himself up to the great 
work he had undertaken, of leading sinful men to the Lord 
Jesus Christ. He instituted here also his favorite instru- 
ment of good, and that to which his heart was peculiarly 
given to the very last days of his ministry on earth — Sunday- 
schools and Bible-classes ; and not only engaged others thus 
in the labor of Christian instruction, but also attended him- 
self to a weekly Bible-class for adults. He was in this 
method literally abundant in labors, and his character and 
usefulness as a minister of Christ soon became extensively 
known and appreciated throughout the United States. At 
that time I was personally unacquainted with him, and was 
myself preparing for orders in a distant State. But his 
name, and the character and excellence of his ministry, 
became fully known to me, and excited the strongest desire 
in my mind for the opportunity of gaining a personal know- 
ledge of him, which God mercifully gratified at last, for a 
long time and in an intimate degree. 

His efforts to do good in Fayetteville were not confined 
to his own congregation. He set himself, and with much 
success, to fulfill the precept given by the Lord to the Israel- 
ites in their captivity — "Seek the peace of the city whither 
I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray 
unto the Lord for it, for in the peace thereof ye shall have 
peace ;"* and the promise which he made at his ordination, 
that he would " maintain and set forward as much as lay in 
him quietness, peace, and love among all Christian people, 
especially among them that should be committed to his 
charge."f When he removed to Fayetteville, the members 
of the Episcopal and Presbyterian Churches were much 
separated, and, in some cases, violently opposed to each 
other ; so much so, that all mutual intercourse between some 

* Jeremiah 29 : 1. f Ordination omee of Priests. 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 75 

families had ceased on this account. He became at once the 
peace-maker between them. He associated himself upon the 
most friendly terms with the minister and members of the 
other denominations, and thus was the instrument of restor- 
ing the dominion of harmony and concord, and of giving 
a new impulse to the religious character and spirit of the 
members of both congregations. This mutual sympathy 
and cooperation was rendered permanent by a Society 
which he formed for the purposes of benevolence, the mem- 
bers of which were composed of the different denominations 
of Christians in the place. This, by bringing them together 
on common ground for reciprocal assistance and support, 
removed the jealousies and tendencies to conflict which had 
before existed, and gave them a consciousness of their com- 
mon interest, and of the claims of a common cause. This 
Society held its meetings at his own house, every month, 
and its annual meeting always in the Episcopal church. 

The principle upon which he acted in the establishment 
of this Society was maintained by him through his whole 
subsequent life. While he was devotedly attached to the 
principles of the Church of which he was a minister ; pecu- 
liarly exact and regular in the discharge of all the services 
which he felt to become him as her minister, according to 
the promises of his ordination ; and while he labored for 
the prosperity and extension of the Church to a degree cer- 
tainly unsurpassed by any cotemporary in his grade of the 
ministry, he was fully satisfied that there was ground for 
religious effort, which he might easily and happily occupy 
with other denominations of the Lord's people, and upon 
which he might unite with them to accomplish good results 
in which they could mutually delight, without any relin- 
quishment either of his own rights or obligations as an 
Episcopal minister. He had not been educated in such 
views, nor during a considerable portion of his previous 
ministry had he acquired them. Nor under the circumstances 



76 MEMOIR OF 

in which he had been previously placed, could he proba- 
bly have been able to bring them, as he would have wished, 
into operation. But when the American Bible Society was 
formed his attention, as we have seen, was called to this 
point. He saw no difficulty and danger for the Episcopal 
Church in a union with that enterprise, and accordingly 
gave it his full cooperation. To similar institutions he gave 
his influence and efforts with the same readiness of feeling, 
and continued always afterward to rejoice in entering upon 
any undertaking for good to men, in which the painful and 
discouraging divisions in the Christian Church might be for- 
gotten, and all the followers of the Lord be united in a 
common interest and common labor of love. 

The ministry of Mr. Bedell in Fayetteville was imme- 
diately distinguished for its successful results and for its 
evangelical character. The church edifice was completed 
and occupied in the commencement of the winter succeeding 
his removal to the place, and a large and united congrega- 
tion was soon collected to worship in it. The impression 
and effect which was early produced by his ministry, may 
be well gathered from the following extract from a letter 
of a highly respected gentleman, then a member of the 
congregation : 

" I have been trying to revive my remembrances of him 
at that period, and although I can bear strong and willing 
testimony to his eminent piety; his charitable and kind 
deportment toward other classes of Christians ; his efficient 
services in the pulpit, and his courteous and blameless life 
in society, yet my memory furnishes few details that can 
be of any use for the purpose you mention. Indeed, soon 
after he rendered with so much kindness and sympathy the 
services at the death-bed of my beloved sister Sarah, my 
attention was forcibly diverted by preparations for my 
voyage to Europe. 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 77 

"Though young, and comparatively thoughtless, 1 was 
not unobservant of the sensible effects of his ministry upon 
the community. You will remember, with the exception 
of the short ministry of Eev. Mr. Judd, that Mr. Bedell's 
was the first that the people of Fayetteville had ever had in 
the Episcopal Church, and although the congregation had 
been organized by his predecessor, yet it was under his 
ministry that the cold materials seemed to receive life and 
feeling. He attracted many to the church ; some aged indi- 
viduals, who had scarcely ever been seen within a church. 

" Mr. Bedell drew many worldlings and careless livers 
to his church by the animated and impressive style of his 
oratory, and made them regular attendants by his earnest 
appeals to the heart, by his own obvious piety, and by the 
forbearance and Christian charity, and the maimer with 
which he treated the peculiar doctrines of his Church which 
was inoffensive to the casual hearers of a different persua- 
sion. He seized all occasions for arresting the attention of 
the thoughtless. If a death occurred in the place, some 
appropriate and solemn remarks on the following Sabbath 
were made to carry a salutary warning to every heart, and 
the occasional sermons which he preached on Christmas day 
and New- Year's (which days had never been so observed 
before this) were impressive and solemn. 

" The harmony which existed between rhe Presbyterian 
minister and himself was creditable to the Christianity of 
both. They so arranged their services on the afternoon and 
evening of the Sabbath, that the people of one could hear 
the preaching of the other." 

The remaining portion of the letter, from which the 
above is extracted, contains a delightful account of an inci- 
dent which occurred in Mr. Bedell's ministry, in the sum- 
mer succeeding his removal to Fayetteville, and which, as 
exhibiting God's blessing resting upon his labors for the 



78 MEMOIR OF 

good of souls, becomes of peculiar interest to us in this 
period of his history. I have inserted the account in the 
language of the letter : 

" But my personal knowledge of Mr. Bedell commenced 
in August, 1819, at the time of his kind attendance on my 
dying sister ; and for his services on that occasion, I have 
ever felt grateful to him, and thankful to God for the mer- 
ciful and wonderful results which seemed to flow from them. 
As such incidents rarely occur under the ministry of any 
man, I will relate it more minutely, not trusting to my 
memory for the details, but will avail myself of letters 
written at the time to an absent brother. 

" To appreciate the extraordinary manifestation of God's 
grace and power in her triumphant death, it may be neces- 
sary to premise something of her character, and to feel the 
full force of the expression that she made on her death-bed, 
4 Oh ! I have suffered a great deal in this world, but I would 
suffer again ten thousand times for this hour of happiness,' 
it will be requisite to understand the severe and varied 
trials through which she had passed in her short career. 
She had been left an orphan at the age of twelve years ; 
(the eldest of six children, to whom she supplied, as far as 
it was possible, the place of a mother, tenderly and faith- 
fully,) married early from a mere impulse of the heart ; 
soon lost her health ; buried four infant children, and was 
subjected to domestic trials of the most distressing nature. 
She was full of sensibility, and early in life cheerful and 
ardent, but misfortunes had long since chilled down her 
temperament, until her heart-broken appearance was evi- 
dent to every beholder. 

"She rarely spoke on the subject of religion, and when 
she went to the communion-table she seemed oppressed by 
a sense of her unworthiness to such a degree, that she was 
visibly distressed and indisposed for days afterward. Dur- 



RET. DR. BEDELL. 79 

ing lier protracted ill health, she was very wakeful at night, 
and several times, in the darkness and silence of midnight, 
■she was found upon her knees at the bedside, too feeble to 
get back without assistance, 

" We had so long and so often seen her very sick, that it 
was not till the evening of the 18th August, 1819, that the 
hope of her restoration forsook us ; her respiration then 
became difficult, and it was too evident that death was 
indeed at hand. It was suggested to me that Mr. Bedell 
had better have some appropriate conversation with her, 
and administer all the consolation in his power. 

" I went immediately to him, and he kindly came at once, 
about eight o'clock in the evening. The weather being 
warm, her bedstead had been placed in the centre of a large 
room, with a piazza before it. 

" To his question of ' how she felt,' she replied, ' as a 
miserable sinner;' to which he rejoined, 'we are all misera- 
ble sinners, and it was well that she could realize it,' To 
Lis appropriate remarks, she listened with deep attention, 
but seldom spoke. He asked her if he should pray ; she 
answered, ' certainly.' He then knelt by her bedside, and 
gave an extempore prayer, during which she often groaned, 
and her countenance indicated the deep anguish of her soul. 
Mr. Bedell left the room, and she clasped her hands, and 
appeared to be praying most fervently to herself. On 
seeing him through the windows walking in the piazza, she 
sent and requested him to pray again, and it was during 
this second prayer that the very remarkable change in her 
took place. By this time many relatives and friends and 
servants had collected around the windows, and in her 
chamber, to witness the closing scene, and while with deep 
emotion and sympathy we stood watching her emaciated 
countenance, so full of pain, anxiety, and misery, suddenly 
it became radiant with happiness, and lighted up with 
seraphic smiles. She struggled to suppress her transport- 



80 MEMOIR OF 

Log emotions, until the prayer was finished, when, after a 
short pause, she broke the silence, and thrilled every 
present with exclaiming rapturously, l Thank God ! bow 
happy I am ; let me arise and praise God for what he lias 
done for my soul.' A relation in the room (supposing her 
delirious) said. * Keep her down ;' when she replied. ' Xo. 
aunt ; no one can keep me dowa when God gives me the 
power to rise.' She was then supported by pillows in bed. 
and with an uplifted countenance beaming with rapture, she 
gazed ardently, as if she enjoyed a vision of the unvei 
glories of heaven. She had no adequate long gt to express 
her emotions. She exclaimed. ' How lovely my children 
are. especially Sarah Jane :' (this was the only child that 
had lived long enough to be baptized,) and she seemed by 
her looks to recognize others among the throng of hies 
spirits. 

*• You may conceive how mute with awe and astonish- 
ment we stood, conscious that a scene was then before our 
eyes which mortals seldom have witnessed ; sensible that we 
were indeed in the presence of God. and that heaven il 
was brought near to us. though visible, alas ! only to her. 
She said with fervor. • Oh ! what a good God I have ! Why 
don't you all serve him V Her eye resting on me. she - 
' My dear brother, won't you be a Christian ? Won't you 
promise me ■' And I slashes* 

% sta £ probation ; prepare I 

la, who was wee] i said, 'O! 

weep for me ; you would not have me back V when Mr. 
Bedell remarked. "If it is God's will to raise you from that 
sick bed. you must be resigned." She turned to Mr. Bedell. 
and said. • Mr. Bedell, you have been an instrument, hi the 
hands of God. this night, of saving my soul : words are in- 
adequate to express my thanks to you. but you will be re- 
warded tenfold for it in heaven.' She often expressed her- 
tbus: 'I have suflered a great deal in this world, but I 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 81 

would suffer it again ten thousand times for this hour of 
happiness. 5 She called a female friend to her, and said, 
'- You are the only person that ever conversed with me on 
the subject of religion ; let me kiss you for it. She then 
drew her to her, and put her arms around her neck. To 
her husband she said, \ My dear husband, I wish I could 
take you to heaven with me ; I wish I could take you all 
with me.' 

"She asked Mr. Bedell to sing a hymn. He selected, 
' There is a land of pure delight,' etc. She joined in, and 
though often interrupted by phlegm, she would renew the 
song, and strained her voice to its utmost strength. When 
she had finished the two lines— 

' Xot Jordan's stream, nor death's cold flood, 
Should fright me from the shore,' 

she added, with uplifted eyes and clasped hands, ' No, Lord ! 
Death has no fears for me.' 

" Death, indeed, seemed i to be swallowed up in victory.' 
She was frequently urged to lie down, but she said, B Oh ! 
let me talk while God gives me power to talk.' She at 
length yielded to entreaties, and lay down. She continued 
in a peaceful state of mind all night, spoke seldom, and slept 
more than usual. On the following morning she rallied her 
strength for the last exhortation to her husband, and in a 
low tone seemed to be pleading earnestly with him. She 
was heard to say, 'Promise me, my dear husband.' She 
became weaker and weaker during the day ; her memory 
failed, and at 9 o'clock in the evening of the 19th of August, 
she gently breathed her last. 

" Mr. Bedell remained with us the most of three days, 

his family being out of town. His kind sympathy fell upon 

hearts softened and subdued by affliction. "We afterward 

attended his church, and my sister Isabella became a com- 

14* 



82 MEMOIR OF 

municant. Associated as he is in our minds with our de- 
parted sister in that wonderful scene, we can never lose the 
sense of his piety and happy instrumentality." 

The following is an extract from one of Mr. Bedell's let- 
ters to his wife, who was absent at this time on a visit at 
Hillsborough, N. G. In the previous part of the letter he 
describes the striking scene which has just been related ; 
this portion unfortunately has been lost, the letter having 
been written upon two sheets of paper. The remainder 
contains an interesting development of the state of his own 
mind at the time of this occurrence, and shows how remark- 
ably and happily God had now led him to a knowledge and 
acceptance of the great principles of Gospel truth. It is a 
subject of unceasing regret that so few of his letters have 
been preserved by his correspondents, and thus so much of 
the private exhibition of his character has been placed be- 
yond our reach. 

" Fayetteville, August, 1819. 

" After having been engaged in these things both in con- 
templation and in writing, you can not but suppose that I 
feel no interest to enter into a detail of common matters. 
By the permission of God, I hope to be able next week to 
talk to you of these things. 

" In the inclosed letter of S— *, you will find that to 
all appearance God has been dealing mercifully with her in 
bringing her to a sense of her danger, a conviction of sin ; 
that it will be carried on by him who hath begun the good 
work, until it eventuates in her conversion, is my hope and 
prayer. Oh ! how valuable is the soul, and how precious its 
Redeemer ! Give yourself in sincere prayer to him, and be 
assured, upon -the word of Him who will not deceive, you 
shall in no wise be cast out. 

* A sister of Mxs. B. 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 83 

" Shall I say that I have been taught from these things ? 
I know and feel my own unworthiness, and the sight of these 
things animates my devotions, and warms and quickens my 
love. Oh ! that we all might know the exceeding sinfulness 
of sin, and go to the foot of the cross with our hearts deeply 
humbled ! I have extended this letter further than I in- 
tended. I must stop, for I am fatigued. 

" I think of setting out on Monday next with Col. Ash. 
If I do, I shall not see you till Wednesday. If I travel 
alone, and am prospered, I shall be with you on Tuesday 
evening." 

Some expressions in the preceding extracts present very 
clearly to us the manifest change through which the mind 
of Mr. Bedell had passed, in regard to some points referred 
to. It is delightful to us to witness in it the high value 
which he had learned to set on heavenly and spiritual things ; 
the clear views which he had attained of the method in 
which God works by his Holy Spirit, to awaken and convert 
the sinful soul ; and the earnest desires which he felt that 
others should become partakers of these precious blessings 
of the Gospel, 

In reference also to the use of extemporaneous prayer, 
which we find mentioned in the preceding letter, this change 
which had taken place in his feelings and judgment is quite 
evident. In some sermons which he had preached upon the 
subject of " forms of prayer " at Hudson, I have found very 
strong expressions, in condemnation of the habit of extem- 
poraneous prayers upon all occasions, and the entire denial 
that such prayer could ever be made acceptably to God, or 
without the vain repetitions referred to by our Lord in his 
sermon on the mount. This opinion he then entertained ; 
bnt when this course of sermons was preached by him sub- 
sequently at Fayetteville, though there is no change in his 
judgment, as indeed there never was, in regard to the expe 



84 MEMOIR OF 

diency and importance of a form of prayer for the public 
worship of the Church, all the expressions of condemnation 
of extemporaneous prayer which had been so freely used 
are omitted, as not being necessary to his argument, and 
not according with his state of mind ; and the caution is re- 
peatedly given that his remarks are not to be interpreted 
to the reproof of this habit, in other Christians, or the use 
of it by ourselves, on other occasions than those for which 
the regular form of prayer has been properly prescribed. 
In reference to this point, the views which he entertained, 
and upon which he practised, during his ministry at Fay. 
etteville, remained the permanent convictions of his mind 
to the end of his life. 

No clergyman of the Church more highly valued the 
Liturgy than he, and no one could be more regular in its 
use as the form of public worship for the Church. But upon 
private occasions, and in meetings for social worship, he 
felt himself at liberty, and this liberty he habitually used 
to employ extemporaneous prayer as more entirely adapted 
to the changing circumstances of such occasions.* 

* It is in no small degree interesting to us to record, in connection 
with the above remarks, a circumstance which occurred many years 
subsequent to our present point of history, but which is so precisely 
accordant with what has been here said, that it comes in with peculiar 
fitness. 

The very last public address which Dr. Bedell ever delivered at the 
meeting of any benevolent Society, was at the formation of the 
" Bishop "White Prayer-Book Society," in Philadelphia, in February, 
1834, but a few months before his death. He offered the following 
resolution: u Resolved, that the lapse of ages has but tended to 
strengthen the conviction, that the Prayer-Book is one of the dis- 
tinguishing excellencies of the Church, to which, under G-od, is mainly 
attributable her remarkable exemption from false doctrine, heresy, and 
schism, in times past; and her prospect of unity, peace, and concord, 
for the time to come." In advocating this resolution, after showing 
the fact that the Episcopal Church is thus free from these evils, and 
has this prospect, and that this freedom is attributable to the use of the 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 85 

In the foregoing extract of his letter to Mrs. Bedell, the 
Christian reader will not fail to see, also, how far his views 
were now enlightened upon the great subject of the sinner's 
conversion to God, and how much more efficient and practical 
his ministry must necessarily have become. And when the 
date of this letter is remarked, it having been written in the 
first summer of his residence at Fayetteville, the fact will 
appear very evident, that his mind had become fully settled 
upon the great principles of Christian truth, and his system 
of ministry had become entirely transformed in its character 
at this early period of his history. With views of truth like 
these, so clearly expressed as they were afterward in his 
habitual preaching, the results of his ministry, which were 
so widely known, are seen not to have been without an 
adequate instrumentality. He was thus made the means of 
conversion to hundreds, who will undoubtedly be stars in 
his crown of rejoicing for ever. 

Book of Common Prayer, he thus concludes his address: "I will 
mention what some may consider a little heterodox, but as we are here 
harmoniously assembled this evening, we may make a little allowance 
to each others' failings. I have no objections to social prayer-meet- 
ings, or extemporaneous prayer. But I have one curious incident to 
relate. A Presbyterian gentleman from Rochester was once at a 
prayer-meeting in my lecture-room, and subsequently said to me, 'I 
have attended several prayer-meetings of Episcopalians, and I do 
think those who are pious in the Episcopal Church, pray better than 
any people I have ever heard.' Shall I tell you my answer ? It bears 
exactly on the point before us. 'My dear sir,' said I, 'Episcopalians 
have been so much in the habit of praying in the language of the 
Prayer-Book, that they can not make bad prayers.' And this is a fact. 
It is more difficult for a pious and intelligent Episcopalian to make a 
bad prayer than a good one. Now, sir, on all these grounds, tins 
resolution expresses my feelings, and I heartily rejoice at the establish- 
ment of this Society. I want to see the Prayer-Book in the hands of 
all. It recommends our Church where she is not known, and makes 
her more loved where • she is already known. May G-od speed the 
efforts of the institution now to be organized !" 



86 • MEMOIR OF 

At the close of this year he preached a sermon on Christ- 
mas eve in Fayetteville, which was printed and dedicated to 
his uncle, Bishop Moore. He called it, "The minister's 
affectionate exhortation to his professing people." As a 
composition it contains nothing worthy of particular remark. 
But as exhibiting the clear views which he had obtained of 
the great principles of Christian truth, and the positive stand 
which he had taken in regard to the conformity of Christians 
to the world, so different from his own habits of mind and 
conduct in previous years, it is well worthy of our notice, 
and I shall present simply for this purpose, a few extracts 
for the reader. 

The text was in the 7th and 8th verses of the 1st chapter 
of the Song of Solomon. "Tell me, thou whom my soul 
loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to 
rest at noon; for why should I be as one that turneth 
aside by the flocks of thy companions? If thou know not, 
thou fairest among ivomen, go thy ivay forth by the 
footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds' 
tents." 

In his introduction he remarks : 

" There is an extremely interesting and important inquiry, 
and which seems seldom to be made, or if made, pursued 
to any permanently profitable result; and that is — what 
course is absolutely necessary to be followed, in order to be 
true disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is a kind of 
instinct unhappily clinging to our fallen nature — a part of 
that depravity in which the carnal heart is so deeply 
involved, that leads us always to seek to keep at a distance.. 
those subjects of inquiry which we feel perfectly assured 
must result in something completely at variance with the 
views and feelings which we have been in the habit of 
indulging ; and many an individual is thus kept continually 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 87 

vacillating between what he knows to be wrong and what 
he fears to be right. 

"This is eminently the case with respect to religion. I 
feel assured that there are many persons in the world who 
have a cloud upon their minds in this particular — who are 
conscious that the religious course which they pursue is not 
what it ought to be, and yet who will not push on the 
inquiry to its result, because they are convinced that the 
result so attained would only add confirmation strong to the 
consciousness of present deficiency. It is the way, it is the 
habit of the world, it is but natural, it is but the predomi- 
nance of the flesh over the spirit, that we should be opposed 
to every thing which would seek to destroy the empire of 
self, and of the world; to overthrow darling habits, of 
thought or of action, and to establish on their ruins a sys- 
tem of principles and conduct as opposite to what we had 
hitherto been as light is to darkness." 

He thus arranges the division of the sermon : 

"I. That whoever loves the Lord Jesus Christ will always 
desire to feel and know his presence. 

"II. That whoever loves the Lord Jesus Christ will always 
be extremely anxious, lest by any means they depart from 
his presence. 

"III. That whoever loves the Lord Jesus Christ will follow 
the directions given. ' Go thy way by the footsteps of the 
flocks, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds' tents.' " 

Under the first division he remarks : 

"The heart which is conscious of its own sinfulness and 
insufficiency, which knows the exceeding love of Christ, and 
in which he has been formed the hope of glory, desires to 
live as if in his immediate presence, and supported by the 
bounty of his grace. There is no more certain, nay, it is 



88 MEMOIR OF 

the only sure criterion by which we can judge of our own 
love to Christ, so to act as if the predominant desire of our 
hearts, was to be under his continual guidance, as a sheep 
of his pastoral care. The heart which truly loves him, loves 
also to follow him in the way of his commands whither- 
soever he shall be pleased to lead the way. To the experi- 
enced Christian the language of the text fully expresses 
what other language could but imperfectly define — 'Tell 
me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, 
where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon.' 

"Believe me, my friends, there is no love to Christ 
where the heart is left so cold and dead to heavenly things 
that the sentiment of the text can not be awakened into life, 
and activity, and warmth. The heart may be satisfied of its 
deficiency, which has never felt. ; Tell me, thou whom my 
soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock 
to rest at noon.' r5 

Under the second division he proceeds : 

"The individual who can say to the Lord Jesus, '0 thou 
whom my soul loveth," is not only desirous to be as it were 
continually in his presence, but is also conscious of his own 
insufficiency, and trusts himself entirely to the Lord, his 
Shepherd, for strength and support. He is aware that he 
is safe so long as the Lord is his defense, but feels and 
knows both the danger and the wretchedness of getting 
beyond the bounds marked out as the inclosure of safety. 
' Why should 1 be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of 
thy companions?' The soul which truly loves the Lord 
Jesus, has an habitual fear of being drawn away from Iris 
service by the numerous temptations which everywhere lie 
in his way. This fear is the parent of humility, and humility 
leads on the way to trust reposed on the mercy and the 
grace of God. The predominant feeling of the heart, thus 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 89 

alive to a sense of danger, will be, thou good Shepherd, 
under thy protection and guidance, I know I am safe; 
instruct me in the way of my duty and keep me in it ; why 
should I be as one that would wander from thy fold ] Here 
is the foundation of my future enjoyment. Keep me from 
wandering away with those flocks which have some other 
master ; danger is in their path ; destruction awaits them ; 
with Thee alone is the path of life ; lead me by thy right 
hand, uphold me by thy love." 

Under the third head are these valuable observations and 
admonitions : 

"1. Try no new expedients. 

"There is but one way of salvation. It is through the 
atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ, and through faith in 
his name. ■ Go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock.' 
This is the way which has been trodden by saints from the 
lime of righteous Abel to the present. For those upon 
whom the splendor of the Gospel did not shine, neverthe- 
less walked in the twilight of the Gospel's morning. 
'These all died in faith,' says the apostle. The way in 
which the holy men of old ; the Prophets, the Apostles, and 
primitive Christians went, as well as those who since them 
have loved the Lord, is one and the same. Trial, self-denial, 
and affliction are in the way. No expedient which proposes 
easier conditions can be a safe one. 'Whoever will come 
after me, must take up his cross and follow me*— as a sinner 
— lost by nature ; and if saved, saved only by the unmerited 
grace of God, through the atonement of Christ and the sano 
tification of the Spirit, Here alone can you rest under the 
shadow of the Shepherd's tent. 

"The grand object of a Christian is the salvation of his 
soul. To attain this object there is a path pointed out, and 
that path is to be constantly pursued. When we lose sight 



90 MEMOIR OF 

of it, we are in danger ; when we turn aside by the flocks 
of others, we are completely out of the way of safety. 

"It is the besetting sin of professing Christians to linger 
by the way, and turn aside when they should rather l press 
toward the mark.' It is particularly the sin of many to 
turn aside from the footsteps of the flock to run after the 
vain and idle amusements of the world. Whatever may be 
said of these things as it regards those who make no pro- 
fession of religion at all, (for indulgence in these things 
makes but another link in the chain of their most lamentable 
deficiencies,) I dare not to dissemble my entire conviction of 
their evil as it regards professing Christians. Neither will 
I dissemble my sorrow, that there should be a professing 
Christian within the sphere of my influence, in whose mind 
even the possibility of their innocence should enter. What 
constitutes the difference between those who profess to be 
the followers of the Lord and those who do not ? Is there 
no difference between them] Yes, there is, or, rather I 
should say, there ought to be a difference as clear and dis- 
tinct as the day is from night. That difference consists in 
the ardor of the love which burns in their bosoms toward 
Him who is the author and finisher of our salvation ; and the 
ardor of that love is only to be measured by the devoted- 
ness of our lives to his service. Love to the Saviour, and 
love to the amusements of the world, are things opposite 
and contradictory. Love for one's own soul, and love for 
those things with which the best interests of the soul are at 
war, are things in their own nature opposite and contra- 
dictory. True religion, and the world, are as completely at 
variance as can possibly be imagined. Our Saviour has not 
only established this truth, but absolutely laid down the 
impossibility of a neutral state for the soul. 'Ye can not 
serve God and Mammon.' ' He that is not with me, is 
against me.' 

"I speak it in the fear of God. No professing Christian 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 91 

has any doubts on the subject if he has in his heart any- 
ardent love for the Lord Jesus. Where the love of Christ 
dwells in the heart, the empire of these follies is overthrown 
altogether. The truth can be most firmly established by 
the experience of those who have felt and known that the 
Lord has been gracious to them : that the soul which loves 
the Lord is supremely desirous of being fixed entirely upon 
him, wishes always to be with him, and loves the way he 
has pointed out. 

"Why, my friends, should any of you forsake his guiding, 
and turn aside to the flocks of others ? If I may be allowed 
the expression, Oh! what sorrow, professing Christians, fills 
the bosom of your Saviour, when he feels in his infinite 
compassion, Is my service then so unpleasant — has it so few 
delights — has my pastoral care so few attractions — has being 
in my flock so few pleasures, that those who profess to fol- 
low me, turn aside to mingle in the vanities in which they 
are engaged who are not of my fold % Why do they forsake 
the footsteps of the flocks % Why do they flee from the 
shadow of the Shepherd's tent, and turn them to those 
empty pleasures which are calculated to quench every spark 
of devotion, while I, who have died to save them, and would 
lead them to green pastures, and beside the waters of com- 
fort, am forgotten and forsaken % 

" Dedicate, I pray you, your best powers to God. Love 
Christ as your 'all.' Vast is the happiness, even here below, 
of being found by the footsteps of the flock ; unspeakable 
the gratification of knowing that we are pardoned, and that 
we have an interest in the blood of Jesus ; that he, the 
good Shepherd, watches over us for good ; that the shelter of 
his tent is security and peace. 

"Who will seek with us the footsteps of the flock? Who 
will go with us to the sheltering tent 1 Shall our number 
be small 1 Well, well ! ' Fear not, little flock, for it is your 
Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.' 



92 MEMOIR OF 

"The day will come, for the promise of God is engaged 
in the furtherance of the work, when true evangelical religion 
shall have its sway, shall run and be glorified. Then the 
name of the Lord Jesus Christ will be loved, and Christians, 
feeling the fall force of their obligations, let their light so 
shine before men, that others, seeing their devotedness to 
the cause of their Redeemer and Saviour, shall glorify our 
Father w r ho is in heaven. Happy will be the day, when 
Jesus Christ shall reign in our hearts, supremely — King of 
kings, and Lord of lords. More glorious the period, when, 
after the tremendous process of the day of judgment, those, 
and those only, who have loved him, shall go to Sion with 
songs and everlasting joy upon their heads, and be engaged 
in praises, and filled with joys as ecstatic as they are 
endless." 

It is delightful and cheering to see in these extracts how 
" the true light" was shining in his heart, " to give him the 
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." 
He who had " begun a good work in him was carrying it 
on unto the day of the Lord Jesus," and was rapidly pre- 
paring him now for great usefulness on earth and for glory 
in heaven. 

In the autumn of 1819, shortly after the interesting cir- 
cumstances described in one of the preceding letters, he was 
himself visited with violent disease. From this he recovered 
in a few weeks ; but it sufficiently proved the unfavorable 
influence of the climate upon his constitution, and laid the 
foundation with him for much serious suffering. Successive 
attacks of ague and fever r endured both by himself and his 
wife, made it more evident, in each succeeding year, that he 
could not long remain to labor in that portion of country. 
Through the summer of 1821, he was absent with his family 
on a visit to their friends in the Northern States, in conse- 
quence of their ill-health. During this summer and autumn, 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 93 

he passed a considerable portion of time with his friends in 
the city of New- York. There was now again a vacant situa- 
tion in Trinity Church, in that city, which was temporarily 
supplied, to which many of his friends were very desirous 
he should be called. His preaching excited much attention, 
and there seemed a strong probability that he would be 
chosen to occupy this station. He addressed the following 
note to Bishop Hobart upon the subject, which will itself 
sufficiently explain the views and motives by which he was 
induced again to present to the notice of the Bishop his 
wishes in regard to this place. It afforded one instance out 
of the many in his life, in which God was disappointing all 
his favored schemes — that he might be " shut up" to the 
entrance upon the field for labor which was provided for 
him — a field to which his own attention apparently had 
never been turned, but his importance and usefulness in 
which is known throughout the Church. 

" My Dear Sir : 

" The fear of not being able to see you before I leave 
town induces me to trouble you with a few lines on the 
subject which is at present most interesting to myself. I 
am becoming more and more anxious to obtain the situation 
which is now open, and that increased anxiety arises par- 
ticularly from the continued indisposition of my father, who, 
without being severely ill, is still, in my opinion, wearing 
fast away ; and the unpleasant prospects of future provision 
for his family (as he has not even now the strength to pur- 
sue his business) has a very injurious effect upon his health, 
by pressing heavily upon his spirits. To be with him the 
rest of his life, and to have it in my power to remove some 
part of the weight from his mind in reference to the future, 
is a reason which forcibly urges me to ask from you the 
exertion of such influence in mv favor as you may deem 



94 MEMOIR OF 

consistent. I would not, my dear sir, have the boldness to 
do this, did I not feel the many obligations under which I 
already lie to your kind consideration. 

" I feel a very great repugnance to returning to the South 
to live, because I am fully persuaded that it is almost sign- 
ing the death-warrant of my wife ; for even in case that I 
could so far divest myself of all selfish consideration, as to 
be willing to leave her behind, it is a matter in which she 
would not be agreed. 

" The situation alluded to would be particularly pleasant 
to me on account of my personal regard, and I may say ? 
fondness for the clergyman at present in the parish, and as 
it regards yourself, having been always accustomed to look 
up to you, my feelings are much deeper than reverence, and 
I would trust that there needs no assurance on my part of 
the most cheerful and faithful discharge of whatever duties 
might devolve upon me. I write now because I suppose 
that there is an impression in my favor which has never 
before existed, and that if ever there is a chance of my being 
called, it is now, and though the difficulties which exist in a 
pecuniary point are great, yet surely the good of the 
Church requires a more permanent arrangement than at 
present. 

" I trust, and indeed I know you would excuse me when 
you take into consideration the circumstances under which I 
write. With an aged father's health and spirits hanging as 
it were upon the issue — with the danger of making the 
South a permanent residence for my family, and in the con- 
trast with the prospect of a situation which holds out to all 
reasonable expectation much comfort and happiness, you 
can be at no loss to estimate the present situation of my 
mind and feelings. 

" Thus far, I may say, that with your advice, which would 
always be as gratefully received as it would be kindly 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 95 

offered, and the assistance of that grace which is the promise 
of the great Head of the Church, I would hope to fill the 
station at least with respectability. 

"I am, Right Rev. and Dear Sir, yours, etc., 

« G. T. Bedell. 
" Saturday, 6th October" 

After this absence during the warm season, he returned 
in the autumn to Fayetteville, in a good degree improved 
in health. He came to the conclusion, however — a conclu- 
sion in which all his friends seem to have concurred — 
that it was quite indispensable for him to remove to a more 
northern settlement. And in the spring of 1822, the deter 
ruination for this removal was carried into effect. He had 
resided in Fayetteville three years and a half, and in that 
time had witnessed the rising of the Church under his care 
to eminent prosperity and usefulness. The congregation 
had greatly increased in number ; the number of communi- 
cants had become also much enlarged, and many seals had 
been divinely affixed to his ministry in the conversion of 
souls to Christ, even among some of the most influential 
citizens of the place. He had become deeply attached to 
this flock, and participated most keenly in the sorrow which 
was felt by them when the separation appeared inevitable. 
He had been also, during his residence in Fayetteville, very 
active and useful in forwarding the general concerns of the 
Church. He had made very large collections for the Gene- 
ral Theological Seminary, then in New-Haven, and had 
been a very efficient agent for the Domestic and Foreign 
Missionary Society. And in both these institutions he con- 
tinued always to feel a deep interest. His reputation and 
influence were not confined to his own flock, but were so 
established and extended throughout the diocese of North- 
Carolina, that a committee of gentlemen waited upon him 
with the request that he would remain among them and 



96 MEMOIR OP 

accept the office of their Bishop. His own feeble health, 
however, absolutely required the projected departure, and 
he felt entirely inadequate to remain, even in reference to 
such an opening for usefulness. He left the Church of 
which he had been the pastor, in a most flourishing condi- 
tion, and the whole community united in their tribute of 
respect and affection for his character and ministry. A 
member of the Society of Friends has stated, that in pass- 
ing through Fayetteville shortly after his removal, he could 
meet with none, even in the business for which he was 
there, without hearing expressions of commendation upon 
his character, and of deep regret for the loss which they had 
sustained. This people never ceased to cherish for him the 
warmest affection. While he lived, he maintained with 
them a constant reciprocation of expressions and acts of 
friendship ; and after his death, they transmitted to his 
widow, through the following letter of their Rector, resolu- 
tions most affectionately expressive of their recollections of 
him, and their gratitude for his services : 

" Fayetteville, Sept. 18, 1834. 
" My Esteemed Friend, Mrs. Bedell : 

" Other considerations than a mere compliance with the 
request embodied in the above resolution of my vestry, 
powerfully incline me to send you a letter of condolence 
upon the recent afflictive dispensation which has lacerated 
your breast. 

" You were all once resident within this parish. Here 
the labors of our departed friend were put forth. Here are 
living seals to his ministry. Here you are all held in sweet 
remembrance. Where is the breast among us that does not 
deeply sympathize in your severe bereavement 1 Still, my 
dear madam, under our affliction, let us not be unmindful 
of the truth, that He who made the sun, ' made the stars 
also,' and that a host of these diminutive lights combine to 



REV. DR. EEDELL. 97 

soften and enlighten the gloom which they can not dispel. 
And oh ! how many considerations, furnished by inspiration, 
combine to alleviate, at least, the affliction which it is the 
will of God you should endure. Consider the world from 
which our friend has departed ; an ; evil world,' laboring 
under the curse of its Maker. Consider the ' corruptible 
body' from which our friend is delivered ; a body ' sown in 
weakness.' Consider the conflict which has ceased for ever ; 
his conflict -with principalities and powers.' Consider, 
moreover, my dear madam, the maturity of our lamented 
friend for the enjoyment of that [ crown of righteousness 
which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give him at that 
day.' Consider his deep and unwearied devotion to the 
cause of the Redeemer i who loved him and gave himself 
for him ;' his noble testimony to the power and sufficiency 
of Christ for life and salvation. Truly, He who ' made the 
stars also,' hath not less originated in his blessed word innu- 
merable considerations to cheer and to sustain your mind 
under the gloom of its bereavement. If from considera- 
tions of comfort in relation to the deceased, we turn to sur- 
vey the cluster which hangs over his offspring, we shall be 
no less cheered with the promises which illume the sacred 
word. When has the seed of the righteous been forsaken % 
When has not the Father of spirits more than filled the 
chasm which his providence had created % What though 
periods of seeming indifference, long and dreary, have inter- 
vened, the Father in heaven has never failed to vindicate 
his truth. A redeeming spirit has gone forth. Its energies 
have arrested the seed of the righteous ; they have repented 
under its influence, believed the Gospel, and will doubtless 
vindicate the faithfulness of Him who hath promised to the 
fatherless his own divine guidance and affection. Nor to 
your own mind, my dear madam, will there be wanting 
many endearing considerations to enliven the gloom which 
can not be dispelled, In relation to yourself, vou will doubt- 
5 



98 MEMOIR OF 

less see, in this afflictive stroke, but a more infallible mark 
of divine love. Dry is the rod, indeed, but we know that 
in the sanctuary it can be made to bud and blossom, and 
bring forth fruit no less conducive to your own spiritual 
welfare than to the glory of Him who is the ' husband of 
the widow,' her defender, her present peace and never-end- 
ing reward. With the kindest regard to yourself, to Miss 

T , and to the children, allow me the place in your 

remembrance of a friend and brother in Christ. 

" Jarvis B. Buxton." 

When Mr. Bedell had determined that it was his duty to 
remove from North-Carolina, the city of New-York again 
presented the chief attraction to his mind. There were all 
the associations of his youth, and chiefly there the various 
ties which united him to others in life. His aged father, 
disqualified by his infirmities for contributing any thing to 
his own support, and his sisters, whose affection for him 
had ever been requited with the most assiduous attention, 
were still very anxious for his residence amongst them ; and 
much of the comfort of the whole family seemed dependent 
upon his ability to gratify this wish. To this point his plans 
were at this time again directed. These beloved relatives 
were necessarily looking to him for their pecuniary support, 
and through the whole of his remaining life, their wants 
were never disappointed. In this great duty, his heart was 
much engaged. When, amidst his own infirmities, he some 
times expended larger sums than usual, on means calculated 
to benefit his own health, he would say, " Life has few 
charms for me, oppressed with the weight of this languid 
body; but upon the continuance of my life, how much the 
comfort of others depends ; six of my dearest earthly objects 
the Lord has seen fit to cast entirely on my feeble efforts 
for support." He cheerfully sustained this burden, and out 
of the income which he received as a minister of Christ, 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 99 

beside the whole expense of the annual support of his father 
and sisters, he secured a life annuity for his father, in the 
event of his surviving himself. Such proofs of filial grati- 
tude and love are too exemplary and valuable to pass unno. 
ticed. How truly did they exhibit that spirit which the 
Lord conferred upon him in an eminent degree, " seeking 
not his own things, but the things which are Jesus Christ's !'' 
When he determined upon making this removal in the 
spring of 1822, he had no particular opening before him. 
His own feelings, as has been seen, all appeared to centre in 
New- York. But there seemed no prospect of any settle- 
ment for him there. Some friends in New-England, where 
he had exercised an agency for the Domestic and Foreign 
Missionary Society, had expressed the desire that he would 
make a visit to that se'ction of the country with the hope 
that there might be found room there for the exercise of a 
ministry which had now become so well known and so 
highly esteemed. He intended accordingly to go in that 
direction for a short time, until he should see where his 
duties were to be finally discharged. He mentions this in 
a letter to Bishop Hobart, of March 10, 1822, the object of 
which was to give an account of his agency for the General 
Theological Seminary. 

" I shall pass through New- York, in a journey eastward, 
about the time of your Convention. My circumstances will 
not allow me to be destitute of a situation, and my wife's 
health demands that I should forsake this southern country. 
Whither I shall bend my steps, I know not. I am persuaded 
that it will not become me to make any further efforts in 
reference to Trinity. Should I fail in all attempts at a 
favorable settlement in the Northern States, I must return 
in the winter to the South, where I can find sufficient 
employment. This, however, will be but a last resort, as a 
southern settlement is neither congenial to my health nor 



100 MEMOIR OF 

my feelings. I leave here on the 12th April, to attend the 
Convention in Raleigh, and then proceed immediately to 
place my family at Hudson, and go from thence into Mas- 
sachusetts. 

" With every sentiment of respect, 

a I remain, your servant, 

"G. T. Bedell." 

But though his own plans were so unsettled, the plan of 
God in regard to him was fixed. He was ignorant to what 
point he should finally direct his steps. But God prepared 
a residence for him, in which he should receive all the com- 
forts which could attend his ministry in life ; and a place of 
labor, in which his talents, and knowledge, and piety should 
be brought into thorough and adequate exercise, as an 
instrument of important and everlasting good to others. 
While he was making arrangements for his removal from 
Fayetteville, he received a letter from the Rev. Benjamin 
Allen, of Philadelphia, urging him to pay a visit to that 
city, on his way to New- York. There was a vacancy in the 
United Churches in that city, for which Mr. Allen was very 
desirous he should be heard as a candidate. This vacancy, 
however, being filled before the departure of Mr. Bedell 
from Fayetteville, his attention was called by the same 
reverend brother to a plan for collecting a new congregation 
in the same city. In reply to this letter, Mr. Bedell thus 
wrote to Mr. Allen : 

" Fayetteville, March 26th, 1822. 
" Rev. and Dear Brother : 

" I received yours this morning, mentioning the appoint- 
ment of Mr. D. The mere assistantship to the Bishop is 
not a situation which I should have particularly desired. I 
should, however, have been pleased with a residence in 
Philadelphia. 

" You speak of an effort to built one or two new churches. 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 101 

I would suppose there might be room for them in Phila- 
delphia, but as to their ever being built, that is quite 
another matter. Episcopalians generally have the reproach 
of being backward, and they have not the zeal and activity 
of other denominations, who seize on every opportunity. I 
hope it will not always be so. It is my intention, God will- 
ing, to be in Philadelphia on the first or second Sunday in 
May, and as I probably shall not find a situation altogether 
agreeable to my feelings immediately, I should be willing, 
after I have placed my family at Hudson, to return and 
spend a few weeks with you, for the sole purpose of giving 
what portion of leisure I may be master of to the further- 
ance of any views in Philadelphia, which the friends of the 
Church may deem important. And whether it should ulti- 
mately be of any benefit to myself or not, it would gratify 
me to assist, by any means in my power, in the establish- 
ment of a new church. I would be willing to go so far as 
to promise, that unless I should be engaged, and receive a 
call elsewhere, I would render such occasional assistance 
through the summer, as might tend, through the blessing of 
God, to the general good. Write to me, and let me know 
more distinctly what the views of the people are, in refer- 
ence to any new establishment. 

" Your affectionate Friend and Brother, 

" G. T. Bedell." 

After Mr. Bedell had left Fayetteville, he again addressed 
the same friend from Richmond, Virginia : * 

" Richmond, April 29th, 1822. 
" Rev. and Dear Brother : 

" I am now, according to my uncle's request, supplying 
his pulpit, during his Episcopal tour in North-Carolina, but 
shall leave here, God willing, on Wednesday, the 8th of 
May, and if prospered in our journey, shall be with you on 



102 MEMOIR OF 

Saturday the 11th. I shall make every possible effort to 
accomplish this object. Your kind invitation to take up our 
abode with you during our short stay, will be gratefully ac- 
cepted, provided it will not put you to inconvenience, as 
you must recollect my family is considerable. I charge you 
to be candid and tell me if we are likely to expose you to 
any inconvenience. We shall stay in Philadelphia, if advis- 
able, eight or nine days. I shall then place my family in 
Hudson, and return to Philadelphia, or not, as may be the 
subject of future conversation. 

" Your Friend and Brother, 

" G. T. Bedell." 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 103 



CHAPTER IV. 

Arrival in Philadelphia — Efforts of Be v. B. Allen — Intimacy* between 
them — Death of Mr. A. — Mr. Bedell's funeral sermon — Anniversary 
sermon — Early efforts in Philadelphia — Success of his ministry — 
Opening of St. Andrew's Church. 

In the early part of May, 1822, Mr. Bedell arrived with 
his family in the city of Philadelphia. Here he found a 
welcome reception at the house of his friend, Mr. Allen. 
The plan which Mr. A. had suggested, of forming a new 
congregation in this city, had originated with himself, and 
had thus far been suggested to very few beside. This de- 
voted servant of the Lord had been but about six months 
settled in Philadelphia, where he was now fixed as the Rec- 
tor of St. Paul's Church. But his heart longed for the 
spiritual increase and strengthening of the Church of God. 
And though himself comparatively a stranger, and hardly 
having had time, for any other man than one so active and 
diligent, to become acquainted with his own duties and 
charge, he planned the noble enterprise, in which he desired 
Mr. Bedell now to engage. The Rev. Thomas G. Allen, 
his brother, gives the following account of his connection 
with the commencement of this important undertaking : 

" After Mr. Bedell had preached, my brother suggested 
to some of his friends, the importance of retaining him in 



104 MEMOIR OF 

the city, and the necessity of immediate arrangements "being 
made for that purpose. The suggestion was received by 
them with astonishment, and it was considered as next to 
impossible for any thing effectually to be done. My bro- 
ther, in a very prompt and decided manner, answered, It 
can be done, it must be done, a meeting must be called. He 
induced a few to assemble together, to talk over the matter. 
Appearances, however, were unfavorable ; all hearts were 
discouraged, except my brother's : even Mr. Bedell was un- 
willing to pursue the object further, and anxious to proceed 
on to the North. But my brother constrained him to 
remain. 

"Finally, on Wednesday evening, May 15th, only four 
days after Mr. B.'s arrival, and at the close of the Wednes- 
day-evening lecture, when Mr. Bedell had preached in St. 
Paul's Church, my brother assembled a few of his friends 
in the small room under the pulpit, and induced them to 
view the subject in all its bearings, and at once to draw up 
and sign a call to Mr. Bedell for one year, obligating them- 
selves to pay him twelve hundred dollars, though at the 
time they really knew not where it was to be obtained, but 
persuaded that the cause was the Lord's. Mr. Bedell 
accepted this call. 

"Shortly after this decisive movement another meeting 
was called, when sixteen individuals obligated themselves 
each to raise five hundred dollars toward the erection of a 
new church. One of the gentlemen who was enlisted in the 
above engagement informed me, that when my brother 
called upon him, and urged him to make himself responsible 
for five hundred dollars, his situation was such, that he posi- 
tively refused. The subject was so pressed upon him, how- 
ever, and my brother promising to see that he was not 
injured, making in fact himself responsible for the amount, 
the gentleman finally consented. 

"Another circumstance in connection with this astonish- 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 105 

ing movement was, that among the conspicuous individuals 
in this scene, there were but two men of capital. But this 
was indeed the Lord's work, and he was carrying it on by 
his own means. 

"My brother was thus made the instrument against a 
strong current of opposition and conflicting interests, of urg- 
ing on this work step by step, until he saw the house of God 
rising to its completion. 

"In this whole work the pure disinterestedness of my 
brother's soul was ever prominent. Some of the ardent 
friends of St. Paul's Church, not taking with him that 
enlarged view of the subject, were induced to remonstrate 
with him. They observed, 'Why Mr. Allen, you do not 
consider what you are doing ! If this work goes on, you 
will injure yourself, and St. Paul's Church will go down ! ? 
My brother answered, '/am persuaded that there is a zvorJc 
for Mr. Bedell to do here, and if my Redeemers kingdom 
is advanced, what matter how soon I fall f Yea, the love 
of Christ constrained him, and he cheerfully gave up his 
bosom-friends to the work. May the Lord be praised for 
influencing the hearts of men to engage in this his own good 
work; for this church, St. Andrew's, is now one of the most 
prominent in Philadelphia, for the number and respectability 
of its worshippers, the number and spirituality of its com- 
municant* the number and prosperity of its Sunday-schools, 
and the amount of its contributions to benevolent objects." 

After having received and accepted this unexpected call, 
Mr. Bedell went with his family to New- York and Hudson, 
according to his previous design. Here his family remained 
until the autumn. The scene which had now opened before 
him for his ministry, was entirely new. Though it had 
many circumstances of attraction, it required him also to 
encounter many difficulties in entering upon its duties. All 
the plans which he had hitherto cherished, were now turned 



106 MEMOIR OF 

aside. His aged father felt a deep sorrow in the disappoint- 
ment to the hopes which he had again formed, of having his 
only son settled with himself Mr. Bedell refers to this in 
the following letter to Mr. Allen, written just after he had 
left Philadelphia : 

"New-York, May 27th, 1822. 
"My Dear Brother : 

"After a very pleasant journey we reached here on Satur- 
day by 10 o'clock, and we had a very disagreeable scene to 
pass through, when my father learned that I had determined 
to go to Philadelphia. At nearly the age of the good old 
Patriarch, and in a similar state of feeling, he was almost 
ready to say, 'all these things are against me.' I trust, how- 
ever, that he will find, as did the Patriarch, that God orders 
his dispensations for the best. 

"The only fear that is entertained on any hand by my 
friends is, that those engaged may get lukewarm and not go 
on. I do not fear it myself; and under God I am perfectly 
willing, in their good faith, to cast in my lot among them. 
I would say again, that it is extremely important that no 
time should be lost in commencing. The Lord be with you. 
Your friend and brother." 

It is delightful to record, that this aged man did find his 
apprehensions disappointed, and lived for eight years more, 
to witness the excellence, eminence, and prosperity of his 
son, and to be fed and sustained by him too, as the Patriarch 
was by his Joseph in Egypt. 

Mr. Bedell's intimate connection with Mr. Allen con- 
tinued until the death of the latter. During his present 
ahsence from Philadelphia he addressed the two following 
letters to him, which display his mind and feelings under 
two most interesting aspects. 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 107 

" New-York, May 29th. 
"Rev. and Dear Brother : 

"I have just received yours, and am glad that all things 
go on well. I am afraid that there will be a stronger oppo- 
sition in Philadelphia than we had imagined. I was in com- 
pany this morning, where I heard that Bishop Hobart had 
expressed himself in terms of disapprobation of my conduct 
in Philadelphia, founded on some notice he had received 
from Bishop White, either by message or by letter, I could 
not learn which. It was stated that Bishop White had been 
entirely neglected on the subject — not consulted at all, and 
that he felt very much surprised." — "With the respect which 
I have always had for Bishop White, I should be very sorry 
that he should be unfavorably impressed toward me, 
because it is my intention to deserve, and my wish to have, 
the good feelings of the Bishop and all his clergy. 

"I mentioned to Bishop White, that not having received 
my letters dimissory, I did not feel justified in saying any 
thing to him, and it was my intention, as soon as I should 
receive my letters, to give them to him, and then, (as only 
then I could,) put myself under his direction. If you could 
feel justified in speaking to him on this subject, it might be 
of use, as it is one of my most earnest desires that I should 
not come to Philadelphia under any disadvantages. 

"You are at liberty to make use of my remarks to Bishop 
White, if you see fit. 

"Your affectionate Brother, 

" G. T. Bedell." 

" Hudson, June 29th. 
"My Dear Brother : 

"I find an advantage in another point of view. While in 
Philadelphia my mind was so engrossed by the new Church, 
that I have reason to fear too much selfishness mingled with 
my feelings, and that the glory of our blessed Master was 



108 MEMOIR OF 

not the feeling so entirely predominant as it ought to have 
been. I have more time and more disposition for examina- 
tion, and I trust that my residence here a short time may be 
of advantage, not more to body than to spirit. How hard 
it is to bring self at the foot of the cross ! What a contemp- 
tible ambition it would be, to be merely desirous to be 
Rector of a fine Church in Philadelphia ! I do feel that I 
have a much nobler ambition than this, and I desire to be 
instrumental in bringing some souls to Christ, and I pray 
against the leaven of pride and selfishness, which are thorns 
in the sides of, I fear, too many. May God of His grace 
make me to feel what a poor vile thing I am, that I may 
always know my place. 

"Your affectionate brother in Christ Jesus, 

"G. T. Bedell." 

In his succeeding intercourse with Mr. Allen, there was 
always the mutual confidence of true affection and unity of 
purpose in the great work in which they were engaged 
together. Their mutual efforts were remarkably overruled 
and prospered for the spreading and exciting the spirit of 
vital piety in the Episcopal Church, not only in the city of 
Philadelphia, but even throughout the whole United States, 
When Mr. Allen was called, in 1829, to the presence of his 
Lord, Mr. Bedell was requested by the vestry of St. Paul's 
Church to deliver there a sermon appropriate to the afflictive 
event. From this discourse I shall select a few extracts, as 
being, from Mr. Allen's connection with Mr. Bedell's min- 
istry in Philadelphia, interesting in this portion of our 
present biography. 

" I am called before you this morning, my friends, to per- 
form a very melancholy duty, and a duty from which I 
would most gladly have shrunk, had I not been convinced 
that, under all the circumstances, Providence seemed to 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 109 

point me out for the performance. The close intimacy and 
friendship which existed between our deceased brother and 
myself — more so than between him and any other of his 
brethren of' the clergy, now within reach — this, together 
with the wishes of his family, early expressed, constitute a 
call which I feel no liberty to decline. Would to God that 
I could discharge the duty with an ability more meet for the 
occasion ! 

" Our deceased brother was a man whose early years cor- 
responded with the exhortation of the wise man, - Remem- 
ber thy Creator in the days of thy youth.' 

" Our brother was early impressed with the importance 
of eternal things. At the age of thirteen years, he was 
made experimentally acquainted with the saving truths of 
religion, and brought, in no inconsiderable degree, to the 
enjoyment of its comforts. It was his habitual practice to 
retire for the purpose of reading the Bible, and meditating 
over its sacred pages, and of pouring out his soul to God in 
prayer and supplication. 

" I can not forbear to mention, that like the late lamented 
Legh Richmond and multitudes of others who are now num- 
bered with the saints in glory everlasting, our brother traced 
his serious impressions, under the mighty hand of God, to 
the prayers and the instruction of a pious mother. Mothers 
in Israel ! what a responsibility rests upon you, that you 
bring up your children in the nurture and admonition of the 
Lord. Our deceased brother, and that tender mother who 
taught him the way of God in truth, are now together in 
glory. 

" Our brother was a man of remarkable disinterestedness. 
Here, my brethren, as on most of the points which I have, 
and on which I shall yet touch, I can say, I speak that which 
I do know, and I testify that which I have seen. I feel not 
the least hesitation in saying, that I have never yet beheld 
the individual of more pure and perfect disinterestedness. 



110 MEMOIR OF 

The question, How will such a thing affect me personally 
never entered into his mind, and never passed his lips 
How will it affect the cause of Christ ? was his only ques 
tion ; and though he might and did sometimes judge erro 
neously, his motive was always good. I can prove his dis- 
interestedness by a fact in which I am personally concerned. 
He knew that he himself might be called upon to suffer 
reproach, and even the deprivation of some valuable friends 
of his own, and of this Church, by encouraging an effort first 
suggested by himself for my settlement in this city. But 
time and again have I heard him declare that the cause of 
Christ was his object ; that his reproaches and his disquiet 
were not to be put in competition with this great design. 
And when he saw the large and flourishing congregation 
gathered in the Church whose success he pushed on with 
such animated zeal and unwearied effort, I never heard from 
him one word but that of gratulation and thanksgiving. 
His disinterestedness was a most noble, shining trait in his 
character, and it will endear his memory to mine so long 
as it shall be capable of retention. But this same trait was 
visible in a thousand instances. His whole life was one 
continued self-sacrifice for the salvation of souls. And 
though I stand not here- to justify all the measures which 
he thought right to pursue — it would be false friendship for 
me to attempt it — yet let this my testimony stand as long 
as I have breath to utter it — for real disinterested desire to 
do good, I know not his equal. 

" Our brother was a man of faith and prayer. 

" I believe it to be the lot of few, even of the true disci- 
ples of the Lord Jesus Christ, to have a more steady and 
realizing faith in the promises of God. In the darkest sea- 
sons of temporal distress ; in the most boisterous and peril- 
ous periods through which the Church has of late years been 
compelled to pass; amidst all the evil surmisings and 
unkind and ungenerous treatment which our brother has been 



REV. D.H. BEDELL. Ill 

called upon to endure, an unhesitating trust in the fulfill- 
ment of the promises of God never forsook him for a 
moment. There was no season so dark but that his eye, 
illumined by faith, saw the light which was beyond ; and 
this faith, it sustained him. If you ask how it was that with 
him this faith was always in such high and lively exercise, 
it can only be answered by the fact that he was a man of 
prayer. His communication with the Father of spirits, 
through his Son Jesus Christ, was steady : and in every 
thing by prayer and supplication, his own spiritual need, 
his temporal exigencies, and the welfare of his own Church, 
and the Church at large, were made known unto God. 
Prayer, which the poet beautifully calls 'the Christian's 
vital air,' was that which kept alive in his bosom all the fire 
of faith, and hope, and love. I can appeal to multitudes in 
the house of God this morning, who can testify to his fer- 
vency in the Church ; at the meetings for special supplica- 
cation ; at their firesides, and at the beds of sickness : you 
know, my friends, that these things are so. God, who seeth 
in secret, only knows how much and how often he poured 
out his soul in ardent supplication that you might be 
saved. * ■ * * '" * 

" Cherish the memory of your deceased pastor by the 
character of the individual whom you shall select as his suc- 
cessor. Understand me, brethren ■ I speak not in reference 
to any individual upon earth. It would be the height of 
indelicacy for me so to do. But I speak of character and 
qualifications. Choose as his successor one of the same 
evangelical views and feelings. I do not doubt you on this 
subject, but I wish to warn you against even the possibility 
of any other course. The faithful and enlightened followers 
of the Lord Jesus Christ in this congregation constitute its 
moral and also actual power. Among you, let there be no 
divisions. With worldly-minded men, and on worldly prin- 
ciples, make no compromises. Betray not the cause of 



112 MEMOIR OF 

Christ on any consideration. Let any circumstances occur 
— let any pastor be chosen who should not carry on your 
lectures, and your meetings for prayer, and your noble 
Sunday-school operations ; your Bible-classes, your methods 
of parochial visitation ; your whole system, hallowed by the 
labors of our brother and his sainted predecessor, Pilmore, 
and then on these walls, and on this pulpit, and on this 
desk, and on this chancel, will be written, 'Ichabod' — the 
glory has departed. For your soul's salvation, and for the 
children whom this Church is nurturing for eternity, I 
charge you, before the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge 
the quick and dead at his appearing, and his kingdom, let 
there be no divisions among you. If by the division of 
those called Christian, advantage should be taken to change 
the character and circumstances of this Church; to your 
consciences and to your God, it never, never can be 
answered. In the present state of affairs, offenses probably 
will come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh ! 
Let there be prayer in season and out of season, that God 
would send you a man after his own heart ; one who shall 
go in and out before you in the fullness of the blessing of 
the gospel of Christ, and be a faithful shepherd of the 
sheep, rightly dividing the word of truth." 

On the succeeding Lord's day, Mr. Bedell preached the 
sermon from which I have given these extracts, in his own 
Church, (St. Andrew's,) and added to it the following intro- 
duction : 

" Previous to entering on the more immediate subject of 
my discourse, I feel it incumbent on me to anticipate an 
objection which may naturally arise. It may seem strange 
to some that I should preach a sermon in commemoration 
of the Rector of another parish. The answer to this, how- 
ever, is obvious and satisfactory ; for beside the personal 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 113 

intimacy and friendship which existed between the Rev. Mr. 
Allen and myself, which would alone be a sufficient reason, 
there are peculiar circumstances connected with this Church, 
which render it an act of justice to his memory. By a 
series of most marked providential interferences, it was 
through the instrumentality of Mr. Allen that my attention 
was first directed to this city. And when I passed through 
it, seven years ago, it was his perseverance which induced 
me to remain even long enough to preach. And when this 
Church was projected, there are many now here who are 
the witnesses of the zeal and labor with which he pursued 
the object. And he never ceased to exert himself till he 
saw the corner-stone laid with solemn religious ceremonies, 
himself delivering the appropriate address. Under the 
mighty hand of God, then, I consider this Church as 
indebted much to his instrumentality, and that, at the very 
least, it becomes us to pay some public demonstration of 
respect to his memory. Let this, then, serve as explana- 
tory of the reasons why I have deemed it expedient and 
proper to preach before you, as far as the different circum- 
stances in which we are placed will allow, the same dis- 
course which on Sunday last I delivered to his bereaved 
congregation." 

In proceeding to relate the efforts and success of Mr. 
Bedell in his new sphere of duty. I can not better pursue 
the course of history from the commencement of the enter- 
prise in which he was engaged, than in his own language. 
The following extract is from a sermon preached in St. 
Andrew's Church, June, 1833, ten years after the comple- 
tion of the edifice and the first collecting of the congre- 
gation : 

"After a residence of four years in one of the Carolinas, 
circumstances, the details of which would be uninteresting, 



114 MEMOIR OF 

induced me to seek a residence in a climate which I con- 
sidered more congenial. In the month of May, 1822, I 
reached this city on my way to New- York, and being hos- 
pitably entertained in the family of my friend, the late Rev. 
Benjamin Allen, I was induced to remain and officiate for 
him in St. Paul's Church, which I did three times on Sunday. 
" On Monday morning, some of the leading members of 
that Church did me the favor to call and request that I 
would delay my journey to New- York for a few days. To 
this proposition assent was given ; and on the Wednesday 
or Thursday following, the same gentlemen came with the 
proposition that I would establish my residence in this city 
for one year, they pledging themselves for my support, and 
to an effort to erect a Church of which I should be the pas- 
tor. This, of course, I being entirely disengaged, was con- 
sidered by me as a decided indication of Providence as to 
the course of duty, and the offer was accepted. During a 
few weeks subsequent to this, the Rev. Mr. Allen, with the 
gentlemen already alluded to, was actively engaged in 
ascertaining whether it would be practicable to build an 
additional Church. They had no doubts as to its necessity, 
and although much reproached and opposed by some who 
were not capable of taking large views as to the interests of 
the Redeemer's kingdom, they determined that they would 
carry on the work. After many meetings, in which the 
blessing of God was continually sought to aid their coun- 
sels and endeavors, it was determined to purchase this lot ; 
and ^though the funds to which they could confidently look 
did not in the aggregate amount to $10,000, the work was 
believed to be agreeable to the will of God, and in faith it 
was commenced. The great burden of responsibility rested 
upon two gentlemen, one of whom departed this life before 
the work was completed ; the other lives, and holds at this 
day one of the only two offices of honor which the Church 
can give. Delicacy forbids me to say more, yet I can not 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 115 

leave the subject without this remark, that whatever of pub 
lie service he may live to render, this house will be the 
proudest memorial of his public spirit, for it was carried oil 
with the contingency of great personal sacrifice. The same 
may be said, though in a subordinate degree, of every indi- 
vidual concerned in this incipient undertaking. But they 
nobly persevered, and the result of their perseverance I 
need not at this time consider. 

" On the 9th day of September, 1822, the corner-stone of 
this Church was laid by the Rt. Rev. Bishop White, with 
appropriate religious ceremonies, the Rev. Mr. Allen having, 
as the earliest friend of the Church, been called upon to 
pronounce an address upon the occasion. This address, 
with other documents, was placed in a cavity of the corner- 
stone, that stone lying under the north-east corner of the 
Church building, excluding that portion which is called the 
portico. From the time of the laying of the corner-stone, 
the work steadily and rapidly progressed till on Saturday, 
May 31, 1823, it was ready for consecration. This solemn 
act, by which this house became for ever set apart and dedi- 
cated to the service of the living God, was performed by 
the Rt. Rev. Bishop White, himself preaching the appropri- 
ate sermon." 

During the year 1822, in which the Church was in the 
process of erection, his time was occupied in the collecting 
of a congregation, and uniting and moulding the energies 
of those who were to be connected with him in his future 
efforts. He preached among the different churches through 
the summer, generally, as we find by his records, as often 
as three times on each Lord's day. In all the churches of 
the city he was welcomed as a preacher ; and his services 
w^ere gladly sought for occasions when there was a special 
desire to make an impression upon the mind of the commu- 
nity, or to enlist their interests in any proposed object. 



116 MEMOIR OF 

Probably no clergyman of any denomination has ever 
acquired ar. 1 sustained in the city of Philadelphia so large a 
share of public admiration and acceptance as a preacher, as 
Mr. Bedell. This was the fact upon his very first removal 
to this city. Wherever he was expected to preach, a large 
crowd was sure to be present, and few. it is believed, went 
away disappointed. 

Some short extracts from his letters to Mrs. B.. who was 
passing the summer in Hudson, will show a partial view of 
his occupations during this season. 

"Philadelphia. June. 1522. 

'•The people here have kept me busy, for I can not refuse 
to preach, though the committee do not wish it. On Sunday 
last I preached for Mr. Boyd in the morning, and a charity 
sermon in the African Church in the afternoon, on the sub- 
ject of a missionary school on the coast of Africa. On 
Friday night I preached also. To-morrow night I am to 
preach the anniversary sermon before the Young Men's 
Auxiliary Bible Society of this city, in St. James' Church. 
Very much is expected of me. On Sunday I am to preach 
in the morning at Christ Church, in the afternoon at Spring 
Garden, and at night at St. Paul's. On Monday. God will- 
ing, it is my purpose to leave here for Hudson. My plans 
for the summer will be finished, and I can tell them when I 
get to Hudson. The new Church, it is said, from the draw- 
ings, will be the handsomest in America. The lot is pur- 
chased for fifteen thousand dollars, but immediate possession 
can not be taken, as there are nine houses to be pulled down. 
The corner-stone will not be laid for three or four weeks. 
though the church is to be finished by May. * * * * 

"Drank tea at ■, and spent the whole of our time in 

conversing on religious topics. I mid them prodigiously 
opposed to what they suppose to be Calvinism, yet disposed 
to believe the truth ; and I really become more and more 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 117 

pleased with their dispositions toward seriousness. I see 
that a vast field is opening before me, and we must pray 
that the Lord will bless our exertions. 

* * * "While at dinner I was called away to see a young 
lady whose mind is suffering exceedingly. Her religious 
impressions are unusually strong, her views clear and strik- 
ing, but she is excessively depressed, I was. with her about 
two hours, or rather she was with me. for she called here, 
and I saw her in the front room. I do not know that I shall 
be able to see her again, as her mother opposes her in every 
tiling like religion, and she is afraid to have me come to the 
house. I shall endeavor, however, to see her again, and 
shall venture to the house, if there is no other opportunity. 

* * * --Went to to tea. They are an exceedingly 

fine family, though, like most others from their quarter, have 
I fear, heretofore paid very little attention to religion. They 

are now, however, very regular, and I was told by that 

considerable impression had been made on the old lady's 
mind ; that on Sunday she saw her after church, with tears 
in her eyes, and she said that I had convinced her she was 
very wicked. I had much conversation with her on the 
important topics of religion, and was much pleased. 

"You must tell my precious little son that I have been so 
much engaged that I could not write to him. but if he is a 
good boy, I shall bring him something. I am far from being 
well. The extreme hot weather and the extra exertion I 
have been obliged to make, have overcome me a good deal. 
I do not think that I ever knew my breast in so weak a state. 
I hope, when I see you, for a little rest, as well as the gratifi- 
cation of being with you.*' 

In the autumn of 1822 he commenced a regular service 
for the benefit of his own congregation. This was held for 
a time in the Masonic Hall. Subsequently, and through the. 
succeeding winter, the vestry of St. James' Church, with 



118 MEMOIR OF 

great liberality granted to him the use of their house of 
worship on the evenings of the Lord's day. And when these 
services were closed, preparatory to his entrance upon the 
new Church which had been erected, they permitted him 
also to take up there a collection for the benefit of his new 
enterprise. 

His preaching during this year was eminently useful. 
His powers as an orator attracted very general attention, 
and the directness and freedom with which he preached the 
great truths of the Gospel of Christ, constituting in a great 
degree an advance upon the general style of preaching pre- 
viously heard, was made, by the Spirit of God, especially 
effectual in the conversion of souls to God. His reputation, 
which had spread far and wide in the Church while he was 
at Fayetteville, prepared the way for great interest in his 
efforts, and much inquiry for them when he came to Phila- 
delphia, and few could attend his ministry there, and listen 
to his powerful appeals without impression, while the Spirit 
of God, without whom all human labor is vain, was pleased 
to make them "quick and powerful," by other influence 
than mere human energy to the salvation of many. One 
striking incident, among others, may be recorded as an evi- 
dence of the power which attended his preaching at this 
time. 

On one of the Sunday evenings during the winter in 
which he was preaching at St. James' Church, a dissipated 
young man was passing the church with a number of gay 
and thoughtless companions, when their attention was 
arrested by the sound of the preacher's voice. Some of the 
company exclamed, " Come, let us go in and hear what this 
man has to say, that every body is running after." He 
vociferated in reply, "No, I would not go inside of such a 
place, if Jesus Christ himself was preaching." On another 
evening, some weeks after, this young man was again pass- 
ing the same place, and the former invitation of his thought- 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 119 

less companions occurred to his mind. Being alone, and 
with no particular object in view at the time, he resolved to 
to indulge a momentary curiosity, if he could effect it with- 
out being observed. On opening the door he was awed by 
the solemn silence of the place, though the house was excess- 
ively crowded. Every eye was fixed upon the preacher, 
just rising to commence his discourse. He mingled in the 
crowd without fear of observation ; but his attention was 
suddenly arrested, and he was riveted to the spot by the 
solemn annunciation of the text, "I saw a young man void 
of understanding." His conscience was smitten at once by 
the power of truth. The sermon progressed, and he became 
more and more convinced that he was "the young man void 
of understanding." A view of his profligate life passed 
before his eyes, and for the first time he trembled and was 
humbled under the consciousness of his sin. He heard the 
sermon through, and was the last person to leave the church. 
He gazed with an intense interest upon the preacher, until 
he, with the congregation, had passed out of the church. 
He found himself alone in the house before so crowded, and 
walked slowly out and returned to his home, conscience 
presenting to his astonished view the awful picture of ruin 
in this world, and eternal perdition in the world to come. 
He had early imbibed the awful principles, and adopted the 
habits of French infidelity, and he had these, with all their 
connecting circumstances, to oppose him in the new views 
which he had been compelled to take of himself. But the 
Spirit which had aroused him in his folly, led him to a per- 
severing attendance upon the ministry of him who had been 
the chosen instrument of awakening his mind. His proud 
heart was made to yield. He cast away his besetting sin, 
and made his new arrangements for a life of virtue and 
holiness. He subsequently made a profession of faith in 
the Lord Jesus Christ, and of personal devotion to his 



120 MEMOIR OF 

service, and has been made one of the seals of God to the 
apostleship of this valued minister of Christ. 

Another interesting incident, though of a somewhat differ- 
ent character, may be introduced as occurring in the same 
year. A lady in South-Carolina, who was well acquainted 
with Mr. Bedell, accidentally mentioned his name in the 
presence of a respectable Presbyterian clergyman, who, 
attracted by the name, asked her if she knew him. On her 
replying in the affirmative, he took her by the hand and 
said, "I must be better acquainted with you, for I am exceed- 
ingly interested in him." She asked the reason of his 
peculiar interest ? He answered, Ci The last summer I was 
in Hartford, Connecticut, when he visited that place. I 
attended his preaching on every occasion there, and am 
indebted to him, under God, for making very lasting 
impressions on my mind, and altering, in a very important 
manner, my views of religion. It would be a great gratifi- 
cation to me, and, if I were able, I would willingly under- 
take the journey to Philadelphia for the purpose of hearing 
him preach once more." When this circumstance was 
related to Mr. Bedell, not long after it had occurred, he 
remarks in reference to it, in a letter to Mrs. B., " It is 
exceedingly gratifying to me, and must be so to you, for of 
all the sources of gratification which a clergyman can have 
in this present world, that of being useful is the most 
abundant, and I am hearing every day of persons on whose 
minds serious impressions have thus been made. Let these 
remarks, however, be between ourselves, and let God have 
all the glory, for 'Paul may plant, and Apollos water, but 
God alone can give the increase.' " 

With such evidences of the acceptance and power of God 
attending his ministry, and with his unusually attractive 
manner as a public speaker, it is not surprising that much 
attention should have been awakened by him. By these 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 121 

continued labors he prepared the way for the opening and 
occupation of his Church in the ensuing spring, and the com- 
munity around were found to appreciate the worth of his 
services, and prepared fully to sustain the effort of private 
enterprise and responsibility which had proceeded in the 
erection of the house of God, in which he was to preach the 
truth of Christ. On the first Sunday of June, 1823, Mr. 
Bedell preached for the first time in St. Andrew's Church, 
which had been consecrated to the worship of Almighty God 
the day previous. A large congregation immediately took 
possession of the Church, which continued to increase in 
numbers until the whole house was fully occupied, and 
many were unable to gain the accommodations in it which 
they desired. On the day after it was opened for public 
service, the sale of pews amounted to 833,000, and from 
that day sales were gradually effected, until the accommo- 
dations of the Church were all disposed of. Of this subject 
it is sufficient to say, that the temporal concerns of this 
establishment were at once, and have always since been, in 
the highest degree prosperous. 

At this point we enter upon a new and the chief depart- 
ment of the ministry of Mr. Bedell, a portion of it, for 
which Ins whole previous ministry seems to have been in 
a good degree preparatory, and in which his labors were a 
course of uninterrupted and wonderful success and useful- 
ness. We have traced him now, from his childhood to the 
twenty-ninth year of his age. We have seen, in what wise 
but remarkable methods, God mercifully led him through 
various difficulties and trials, that he might learn in whom 
alone he was to live and conquer ; and how gradually but 
rapidly also, his mind had been opened to embrace the Gos- 
pel, and his ministry had. been directed and enlarged, to be 
useful to mankind. He had now attained a period in his 
life, at which his experience had sufficiently matured, and 
his mind had become adequately improved and furnished. 



122 MEMOIR OF 

to enter upon the vast sphere of duty which God had pro 
vided for him in Philadelphia, Here he was, as he was de 
signed to be, " a burning and a shining light ;" " an epistle 
known and read of all men ;" occupying a station in which 
he must be influential ; and exercising an influence through- 
out the country which has done more perhaps than that of 
any other individual in his time, to promote the revival of 
evangelical preaching and piety in the Episcopal Church 
and to render the Church an object of remark and attraction 
to other surrounding denominations of Christians. From 
this time, however, his history and ministry are not so much 
to be traced by distinct events, as by characteristic princi- 
ples — principles which are easily indentified, and very 
strongly marked. His health, which had suffered much in 
the climate of Carolina, had become considerably improved. 
He was still, in comparison with others, a feeble and deli- 
cate man, and never released from a large amount of bodily 
suffering. But, for four years succeeding the commence- 
ment of his labors in St. Andrew's Church when compared 
with his succeeding years to the close of his life, he was in 
moderate health, and able to accomplish a very great extent 
of pastoral labor and public duty. From his entrance upon 
his duty as a pastor in this important field of labor to the 
close of his life, his history is entirely identified with that 
of his Church. The success with which he labored in it has 
been abundantly manifested by the results which have been 
produced. The eyes of the whole community, not only in 
the city in which he lived, but in the Episcopal Church 
throughout the United States, have been turned with deep 
and inquiring interest upon this instance of successful labors. 
No Episcopal Church in the United States has exceeded this 
in spiritual or temporal prosperity, and very few have been 
able at all to equal it. The influences of the Holy Spirit 
have been seen to rest abundantly upon it, in the numerous 
conversions of sinners to God, and in the united and ener- 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 123 

getic efforts of professing Christians for the promotion of 
the great objects of Christianity among men. The clergy 
have looked upon the ministry of Dr. Bedell as remarkable 
for its very successful character, and have desired to under- 
stand more intimately, the instrumentality which was em- 
ployed to produce the important results -which have been 
seen to be attained. One great object of the present me- 
moir is to attempt an adequate exhibition of his system of 
ministry, in answer to the inquiring spirit with which its 
course has been observed by those who have witnessed it. 
This can not perhaps be better done than by tracing suc- 
cessively his efforts and plans in the various departments 
of his pastoral duty, through the eleven years in which he 
was connected with this important Christian enterprise. 
Such a course will be likely to exhibit his ministry as a 
whole ; and as he could truly say, in reference to his labors 
as a minister of Christ, " this one thing I do," it will be 
adapted also to display the history of his own life in the 
circumstances which distinguished it from tins time to its 
close. 



124 MEMOIR OF 



CHAPTER V. 

His Character and Power as a Preacher — Sermon for the Greeks — 
Interesting Incidents Illustrating the Effect of his Preaching — Plan- 
ner as a Preacher. 

In the exhibition which I desire to make of the character 
and labors of Dr. Bedell* as a minister of the Church of 
Christ, it will be undoubtedly proper to present him first 
as a preacher. Though he was remarkable in the fulfillment 
of every duty of the ministry, after his heart had become 
truly engaged in his great work, as a preacher he was espe- 
cially distinguished. None could have heard him without 
remembering and appreciating the peculiar attributes of his 
oratory, and the distinct and powerful exhibitions which he 
made of the truth of God. Those who have heard him will 
not consider the present account of him in any degree exag- 
gerated. 

His method of preaching had become in a great degree 
formed and settled at the time of his removal to Philadel- 
phia, though it improved and advanced in its excellent cha- 
racteristics in every subsequent year, as his own experience 
and knowledge were enlarged. Probably no ambassador 
for Christ has ever attained a style of preaching better cal- 

* The honorary degree of D.D. was conferred on Mm by the Trustees 
of Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, a few years after his 
removal to Philadelphia. 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 125 

culated to arrest the attention of an audience, and to guide 
and inform that attention aright, than was the one which 
he selected. He habitually dwelt in his sermons upon 
those great truths of the Gospel which are revealed in the 
redemption of sinners through the obedience and death of 
the Lord Jesus Christ, and which were given to make men 
"wise unto salvation." These truths he exhibited in a 
singularly clear, intelligible, and faithful manner, as the ser- 
mons which have been offered in print to the consideration 
of the public will manifest. They were the unceasing 
source of comfort and strength to his own soul, and he 
delighted to exhibit them to others in a manner which 
should make them perfectly plain and intelligible to all. 
This was the chief peculiarity of his preaching. He ceased 
not, in the most direct and simple manner, " to teach and 
to preach Jesus Christ," the peculiar intelligence of God's 
redeeming love for sinners, as the appointed instrument in 
the divine hand of everlasting good to their souls. The 
necessity and danger of man as a lost being ; the wonderful 
grace and power of " God manifest in the flesh," as the sin- 
ner's glorious substitute and Saviour ; the glorious work of 
the Spirit in forming men anew for God, were his theme in 
public, and from house to house. He was never wearied in 
the consideration of these truths himself, and he feared not 
the wearying of others by their repeated declaration. 
Christ was " all in all" in his addresses to the souls of men. 
No sermon of his could be heard without the opportunity 
to gain from it a plain and distinct delineation of the sin- 
ner's wants and the Redeemer's grace, and a knowledge of 
that blessed path in which the wayfaring man need not err. 
Connected with this remarkable directness in the exhibi- 
tion of the truth, there was in his style of composition a 
simplicity which never soared above the understandings of 
the illiterate or the young, and yet never descended to the 
least mixture of vulgarism or coarseness. None who heard 



126 MEMOIR OF 

him could fail to comprehend him, and yet none who heard 
were ever able to despise. United with the simplicity of 
style, there was an equal simplicity of manner, which added 
yet more to the ease with which he was heard and under- 
stood. He was very remarkable for the beauty of his ora- 
tory, and has been regarded by those best qualified to 
judge, as a model of chaste, dignified, and impressive elo- 
cution. He was entirely removed from every thing like 
parade, or noise, or violence in voice or gesticulation. He 
never preached himself. There was no attempt at effect, 
save the all-important effect of reaching the conscience and 
heart of the sinner, and bringing him back in subjection 
unto God. His open and clear method of illustration and 
argument, like the glass of the astronomer, was estimated 
in its value by him wholly by the distinctness with which 
it brought " heavenly things" before the vision of man. As 
others listened to him, they too forgot the preacher ; and 
there seemed to be nothing so arresting and peculiar as 
the unaffected simplicity with which he would tell, over and 
over again, the story of man's redemption, and urge upon 
the hearts of his hearers the acceptance of the mercy which 
tins redemption offered, without any apparent disposition to 
add attractive ornament to the plain facts of the case. In 
this attribute of his preaching, he excelled all whom I have 
ever heard beside, and this undoubtedly was the secret of 
his surprising success. He stood before men as the mere 
instrument of God, and though possessed of peculiar ability 
to instruct and amuse upon multiplied topics, he poured out 
all that he had, and all that he was, before the cross of the 
Lord Jesus Christ ; and was himself concealed, as he desired 
to be, for the sake of the great truth behind which he stood, 
for its exhibition to men, and to which alone he wished to 
attract their minds. He has often remarked, that it was 
his wish, as far as possible, to present " the whole Gospel" 
in every sermon, that none of his hearers should have the 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 127 

plea of ignorance, though they should never have an oppor- 
tunity to hear again. In .the fulfillment of this desire, he 
succeeded to a singular extent. 

There was, in his manner of preaching, indisputable evi- 
dence of that unfeigned love for the souls of his hearers, 
with which he was constrained. He was often earnest and 
solemn, and commanding in his manner and expression, to a 
degree which made his hearers tremble while they listened. 
A breathless silence reigned throughout the crowded audi- 
ence which he generally addressed. But there was never 
the remotest aspect of harshness, either in his language or 
his utterance. He boldly declared the sinner's dangers ; he 
laid open before him the full wages of his transgression. He 
warned him with the utmost earnestness, to " flee from the 
wrath to come." But he did it all in that kind and tender 
manner which manifested indubitable sympathy in the sor- 
rows which he described, and a " heart's desire and prayer 
to God" that his hearers might be saved. His general 
choice of subjects gave full utterance to the kindness and 
anxiety of his own heart. As a man who was " touched 
with a feeling of infirmities," he presented constantly to 
men the precious invitations and encouragements of the 
Gospel, " beseeching them to be reconciled to God." The 
language of denunciation was not familiar to him ; but the 
language of affectionate and earnest expostulation was his 
chosen instrument, and made, by the divine blessing, to a 
remarkable degree, successful in accomplishing his great 
work. 

He had great facility in employing all the varied acquire- 
ments of his mind for the illustration of the great truths 
which he wished to impress upon the minds of his hearers. 
His desire to make himself perfectly intelligible to all, some- 
times gave to his discourses, in the view of some of his hear- 
ers, the appearance of being too superficial. He was perfectly 
aware of the possibility of this imputation, but still adhered 



128 MEMOIR OF 

to his chosen, simple method of exhibiting the truth. He 
would devote himself sometimes through a whole sermon, 
to a single leading thought, the remembrance and under- 
standing of which he deemed important, and hold it up to 
view in a succession of varying aspects ; and throw upon it 
successive light and shade, until he had accomplished his 
end of fastening it upon the recollection of those whom he 
addressed. When he had thus selected a single spot of 
ground for his cultivation, he would roam in fields unthought 
of, perhaps unknown by his hearers, to gather from these 
multiplied sources their various ornaments to enrich and 
beautify his chosen plat. Every branch of experimental 
science, and every portion of the history of man lent its 
aid in turn to illustrate the sacred subjects which he dis- 
played. It was often surprising how appropriate facts fami- 
liar to the minds of many of his hearers, and even the most 
apparently trifling occurrences of the passing day, became 
in his hands for the exemplification of the truths to which 
he brought them. An instance illustrating this remark may 
be gamed from two most impressive and useful sermons 
which he delivered from the text, " He is despised and 
rejected of men," at the time that West's celebrated paint- 
ing of " Christ Kejected" was exhibited in the city of Phila- 
delphia. Multitudes had flocked to see this work of art, 
and in the midst of the popularity of the exhibition, he 
threw all the illustrations which it presented into these ser- 
mons, and made, as he wished, by it a deep impression 
upon the minds of his hearers. This power rendered him 
always interesting as a public speaker, and never failed to 
engage and gratify the attention of those who heard him. 
Persons entirely unconcerned about religious truth would 
be arrested by his style of address, and while his words 
appeared to them in this beauty of exhibition "like apples 
of gold in a net-work of silver,*' they were often found to 
be also " words fitly spoken," " spoken in season," in the 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 129 

power with which they were "brought upon their hearts. 
This characteristic of his preaching has engaged the atten- 
tion of multitudes with unceasing delight. The fruits of a 
mind enriched with the knowledge of the past and the pre- 
sent, adorned by a contemplation of the beauties of nature, 
and strengthened by the researches of science, were thus 
brought together, consecrated to God, sanctified by grace, 
and poured out before the feet of the crucified Jesus, and 
all made to do their part in proclaiming his truth to men, 
as the daughters of Israel presented their ornaments of gold, 
their garments of beauty, and the products of their skill and 
taste in needlework to furnish and adorn the tabernacle of 
the Lord of Hosts. 

In this uncommon skill in the power of illustration, he 
was able to make his preaching intelligible and attractive, 
even to the youngest of his auditors. The restlessness of 
childhood was stilled before him, and little children were 
often among his most admiring and improving hearers. 
Some instances may be related which remarkably illustrate 
this fact. A little boy of eight years old, who accompanied 
a relative to St. Andrew's Church, remarked to her on his 
return, " This is the first sermon that I ever understood. I 
never did love to go to Church, but I think I should love to 
go there, and perhaps I might grow as good as my mother 
wants me to be." Another little boy of twelve years old, 
belonging to St. Andrew's Church, who was confined to a 
bed of sickness when the death of his pastor was made 
known to him, said, in reply to that intelligence, "O 
mother, now dear Dr. Bedell will receive that bright crown 
of righteousness he used to tell us about. Do you not 
remember, a great while ago, when he said, henceforth there 
is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, 
the righteous judge, shall give me at that day ?" At a sub- 
sequent time, this little boy said to a friend of another 
denomination, who was sitting by him, " You never heard 
9 



130 MEMOIR OF 

Dr. Bedell : Oh ! I wish you had, you could never forget it ; 
he was so solemn and so sweet when he told us about 
heaven; he has gone there now himself." These incidents 
are simply designed to show how much those minds which 
are generally most heedless and ungoverned could be inter- 
ested by his style of address. 

The popularity of his preaching was undoubted and 
extensive. Wherever he went, he was sought for and wel- 
comed. His services were always desired in behalf of 
public objects, in connection with which others wished to 
produce a strong impression upon the minds of the com- 
munity. There were so many instances of this in his 
ministry, that it appears difficult to select an illustration for 
my purpose. The following correspondence, however, will 
show how highly his talents and popularity, in the light in 
which we are contemplating them, were estimated by some 
of the most respectable gentlemen in the community, who 
were in no way personally connected with himself. The 
letters will themselves explain the occasion. 

" Philadelphia, Jan. 5, 1827. 
" Reverend Sir : 

" It is by the direction of the General Committee ap- 
pointed by our fellow-citizens, to take measures for afford- 
ing some prompt aid to the Greeks, and in their behalf, we 
have the pleasure to address this note to you. 

" The cause which this oppressed and suffering people 
have so long prosecuted with unequaled constancy and hero- 
ism — is it not the cause of Christianity not less than liberty % 

" Small aggressions — involving essential principles of 
interest or honor — often provoke nations to resort to the 
extreme measure of redress. Assistance may be yielded 
to those who suffer by fire or deluge, by famine or pesti- 
lence — unless to these be superadded, more insupportable 
than all, the tyranny of the oppressor ; but then, though he 
be the Turk, and Christians be the oppressed — efficient will 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 131 

not, and charitable aid in any shape or of any kind can not 
be granted by the government of a Christian people, lest it 
may give occasion of umbrage, and endanger one branch of 
our commercial pursuits ! 

" We leave these matters, however, to the decision of 
those to whom it rightfully belongs, not without our own 
hopes and prepossessions. 

"But to give food and raiment to the hungry and the 
naked, to the aged, the women, and the children, this is a 
privilege in which, as individuals, we may surely be per- 
mitted to indulge, without violating social duty or interna- 
tional law, and without offending in any way against religion 
or morality. 

"It is with this view that our fellow-citizens have con- 
sulted, and the Committee are consequently taking their 
measnres, and it is hoped that by the opening of the navi- 
gation of the Delaware, charity will have placed at their 
disposal the means of dispatching at least one ship with a 
suitable cargo for the Mediterranean. 

" Having made this explanation of our purpose, in which 
we can not but believe we have your heartfelt concurrence, 
we beg you to inform us whether it will be consistent with 
your personal convenience, and your many pastoral cares, 
to afford your cooperation by pronouncing a discourse in one 
of our houses of public worship, with a view to a pecuniary 
collection ? 

" Should you, after consideration, return us a favorable 
answer, we will have the pleasure of concerting with you the 
preparatory arrangements. 

" We are, very respectfully, 

" Your most obedient servants, 
" Wm. Meredith, ^ 
" N. Chapman, \ Committee. 
" Paul Beck, Jr., J 
"To the Rev. G. T. Bedell." 



132 MKMOXB 

•■ Mohba ;:vg. Jar. B« 

"Gkktlh 

"In consequence of engagements wiiich kept me Gram 
: :e until ~ moon of >:.:::? f..:y. I fa 

not been able to return you an answer till the 
moment. There are few sin which ri - 

are so deeply engaged as in the pi 

of the poor and pei - : and it afibrds me a high 

gratification to understand that our fellow- .re mak- 

ing a strenuous effort to mi:: 

touching necessities, I am not mnch vesst in matter- 
national policy : but I may be J grrnitt 

nation, we can no ~ give to this ---i^g 

for freedoni, such assistance as would, under Previa: 
cause their emai: : i from a - 

leg! \ r :::_;. but whose mildnes- : hose 

mercy is indescribable err. 

" I agre - you, that to give food and rainier. - 

hungry and the naked, to the aged, the women, and child- 
ren, is a privilege in which, as individuals, we nnv 
be permitted to indulge with::.: violating social duty or 
international law, or with w£ offt 

religion or morality ; and in tlii - : lent object I 1 

you success even beyond youi most sangnhn expectations. 

•■ In reply to your question, whether i: will I e : :::sis:r::~ 
with my per sona I convenience and pastoral duties to coope- 
rate with you by pronouncing a liseourse in one :: 
houses of public worship, with a view be a pecuniary col- 
lection. 1 have to re] ::: : ::::::::: iii:: :\: 
sona! convenience does :: : : . ■::: :-: into the eons : :: :ion; and 
I know of no interference with my pastoral luties. If it 
shall continue your purpose :: pursue this plan. I will afibrd 
you what poor assistance I may be able, and shall hold 
myself in readiness to deliver a liseourse :: any such time 
- you may see fit to appoint 



REV, DR. BEDELL. 183 

" With the most sincere desire that you may fully suc- 
ceed in your benevolent design. 

" I remain, gentlemen, 

" Your obedient servant, 

"G. T. Bedell. 
" Wm. Meredith. ] 
" N. Chapman, V Committee." 
"Paul Beck, Jr., J 

* February 27, 1827. 
"At a special meeting of the Committee for the Relief of 
the Greeks, it was unanimously ordered : That the grateful 
acknowledgments of this Committee, for the able and truly 
eloquent appeal in behalf of our Greek brethren, pro- 
nounced at St. Paul's Church on Monday evening last by 
the Rev. Gregory T. Bedell, be entered on their minutes. 

"And it vras in like manner resolved, that Matthew 
Carey. Wm. Meredith, and Turner Camac, Esqs., be a 
committee to request of that reverend gentleman a copy of 
his discourse, and to take immediate order for its being 
printed and distributed. 

"And that the same committee wait upon Mr. Bedell 
with a copy of the minute of these proceedings. 
" Signed by order, 

" Matthew Carey, Chairman. 
"Attest, 
" James N. Barker, Secretary." 

"To the Committee for the Relief of the Greeks : 
"Gentlemen : 

" If the discourse which was preached at your solicitation, 
and of which you have taken such favorable notice,. can in 
the least be made useful in advancing the interests of the 
unhappy people, { our brethren,' for whom your sympathies 
have been so nobly excited, and your exertions so vigor- 
ously and perseveringly made, it is yours to do with as you 



184 MEMOIR OF 

please. With it you have my best wishes and prayers for 
the success of the cause itself. 

"I remain, gentlemen, yours, etc., 

" G. T. Bedell. 
"March 1st, 1827." 

The sermon here referred to, was delivered in one of the 
largest churches in the city of Philadelphia. The house 
and yard, and even the street around, were intensely 
crowded. Yet the speaker's voice was heard over the whole 
with surprising distinctness. But it was an effort which 
cost him much. His health was materially injured by the 
exertion which he made on this occasion. Some extracts 
which I make from the conclusion of this very popular ser- 
mon will not be unacceptable to the reader. * 

" I have now, my friends, placed before you the principal 
relations by which the Greeks are united to us, as our 
brethren ; and I have sought to show you the duty which 
rises out of such relationship. It is gratifying to remark, 
that in plans of beneficence like this, there is a promptitude 
in the people of our country which is truly national. Let 
but the tale of any great public calamity reach our ears, and 
our people are instantly on the alert to mitigate the evil. In 
reference to the subject especially before us, a generous 
movement of compassion seems to have pervaded the land ; 
and one feeling of the necessity of some active exertion to 
meet the urgency of the case, appears to animate almost 
every bosom. I need not seek to stimulate your efforts by 
pointing you to what has elsewhere been accomplished; and 
T would that the rivalry which exists between yours and a 
sister city were always in so good a cause. But what others 
have done, is a matter of small moment to us ; our obliga- 
tions are not to be graduated, nor our sensibility measured 
by efforts elsewhere made. The plain path of duty, which 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 135 

is before us, and the urgent claims of our perishing brethren, 
are sufficient to stimulate us to the most intense exertion. 
As to a people then, "whose sympathies have already been 
awakened into effort, I might safely leave the cause to plead 
in its own resistless language ; for there is no eloquence 
equal to the eloquence of the fact, that these poor victims of 
Turkish oppression, who now lift the supplicating voice to 
you, are your brethren. Yes, they are dear to you, on the 
score of the common relationship of man to man ; still more 
dear, because the very height of their earthly ambition is, 
from the deepest debasement of slavery, to attain a liberty 
which renders our country the oasis of the vrorld. They 
are still more dear, because, though it is under the darkness 
of superstition, they profess the same religion on which our 
fondest, brightest hopes are built. As men, in whose bosoms 
the common feelings of humanity are not yet blunted, I ask 
you for a liberal benefaction. As xAmericans, who would 
desire that the genial influence of liberty should be felt by 
others as well as by yourselves, I call you to a patriotic 
effort. As inhabitants of a city, whose name is synonymous 
with kindliness and charity, I ask you not to disappoint the 
high-wrought expectations of the country. But, when I 
come to you, and make the appeal of the suffering Greeks, 
because you are a people, called by the name of Christians, 
I feel as if I had a demand upon you for a peculiar sym- 
pathy ; and I come to you with this cause, in the name of 
Him whose command is the real Christian's law. Is it a 
small thing, that a people blessed as you are should see their 
brethren perishing by famine'? Let me tell you that the 
Greeks are a spectacle to the world of a daily martyrdom 
for the faith of Christianity. It is their profession of the 
religion of the Cross, which, from the fall of Constantinople, 
four hundred years ago, to the present hour, has armed 
against them the wildest fanaticism, and the fiercest ven- 
geance of the Turk. Let them renounce the religion for 



136 MEMOIR OF 

which they have poured out so much blood, and wept so 
many tears; let them but bow the knee in the name of 
Mecca's prophet, and the deed of apostasy would change 
every foe into a friend. Living, as you do, in the full 
enjoyment of religious liberty, you can not estimate the 
magnitude of the trial which they are compelled to endure ; 
and your conceptions can not reach the sublimity of the 
sacrifices they are daily making. Oh ! if there are any in 
this assembly, whose hearts are warmed by the love of 
Christ, can you withstand the appeal of the martyr, as his 
imploring eyes are cast upon the naked and the famishing ? 
If there is one pang, which rends the bosom of the patriot 
Greek with unutterable anguish, it is that which arises from 
the anticipated wretchedness of their condition whom he is 
compelled to leave behind him to the merciless foe, or the 
horrible alternative of want. Could he but be assured that 
the hand of benevolence would discharge the sacred duty of 
clothing the naked and feeding the hungry, one portion of 
bitterness would be abstracted from his overflowing cup. 
And will ye not do it ? 

"This evening, brethren, we sit in the house of God; 
peace and quietness reign in this large and populous city ; at 
our homes, we have left, with the fearless confidence of free- 
dom, (oh ! blessed be God, for that precious privilege,) many 
relations and friends ; and our children with none to harm 
them, are now tasting the balmy delights of nature's sweet 
restorer. When we return, we shall meet them, as they 
were left — in safety ! What ! have we no gratitude, that 
God hath cast our lot in a land so secure, so blessed ? But 
mark the terrific contrast of your suffering brethren. At this 
very moment ! aye, while I am speaking to you this evening, 
they enjoy not one blessing in common with you, save that 
which not even Turkish oppression can destroy, the privi- 
lege of a secret prayer ! But now, while all is quiet here, 
and all security at home, are there thousands of fathers and 



RET. DR. BEDELL. 1ST 

brothers in the tented field, ready for the mortal conflict ; 
and they shall never see, l or wife, or children more, or 
friends, or sacred home.' To-morrow the life-blood of their 
hearts may hallow the soil which it flowed to rescue. This 
moment, in the cities and villages of Greece, as yet not 
swept with the • besom of destruction,' is many a Grecian 
mother, who, as she strives to soothe her unconscious babe 
to sleep, knows not whether it shall see the light of another 
day ; she knows not but that her eye, which now in the in- 
tensity of agony, watches its soft slumbers, may, ere the 
morrow, through their own death-film, see the Turkish 
ataghan pierce its tender bosom. Yes. and when you retire 
from this Church, as the evening chill forces you to draw 
the provided covering closer round your bosoms, oh ! spare 
one thought to those, who, hi the mountain fastnesses of 
Greece, feel on their houseless heads the frost, and through 
whose scanty vestments the night-wind finds an unresisted 
passage. To-morrow, when it comes to you, will come with 
comforts, and with blessings multiplied, but to them it will 
bring no cheering; for to the cold and nakedness of the night 
will succeed the famine of the day ; and the limbs which 
have rested on the cold damp earth, and the head which is 
pillowed on the naked and inhospitable rock, will find no 
respite from pain and wretchedness ; because, when the broken 
sleep is over, hunger and thirst will urge their unpitying 
claims. But. brethren, why should I speak thus ? O thou 
most merciful Father of us all. is it necessary that such un- 
wearied efforts should be made to induce a people like these 
assembled, to feel for the perishing, the tenderness of pity ? 
Brethren. I beseech you. by all the mercies of that God who 
hath blessed you with an unsparing hand, turn not an ear of 
indifference to this call of your brother, naked, destitute, 
desolate, and perishing! All that he asks for himself for 
wife and children, suffering the accumulated horrors of war, 
of cold, and of famine, amounts to but little more than one 



138 MEMOIR or 

morsel of bread and one cup of water. Let it ring in your 
ears, that your brother is perishing : and the once proud, the 
heroic Greek, sues to the free-born Christian son of America, 
for the crumbs which fall from his table. Are you not born 
for this, their season of adversity ? Can you be called to the 
exercise of a higher and a nobler beneficence 1 Yes, let the 
world be told, that, though considerations of national policy 
may have forbidden an armed interference in this desperate 
struggle for life and liberty, the People of the land have, as 
by one noble, one majestic, one simultaneous movement, 
answered to the call of Greece, by a charity as extensive as 
the need. I will not fear to put this case into your hands, 
and trust you for the issue. You will generously prove the 
birth-right privilege of assistance to the needy and the tarnish- 
ing. You will commission some swift messenger, whose 
feet shall be beautiful upon the mountains ; you will exhibit 
to the world that spectacle of the moral sublime, the sympa- 
thies of a people roused to intense exertion. You will give 
wings to some well-appointed vessel, and she shall bear over 
the bosom of the mighty deep the burden of your gene- 
rosity ; and the prayer of the pious will go up before the 
mercy-seat, that God may speed her on the way. 

"Perhaps, my brethren, when your bounty shall have 
reached that land of desolation and of death, the fete of 
Greece will have been decided, and the scimetars of the 
Turks again made drunk in the blood of her sons and 
daughters. If it should be so ! — if these barbarians should 
have become the unresisted masters of Greece, and her 
epitaph have been written in her blood, then, one noble 
satisfaction will be yours, that you have discharged a high, 
a sacred duty. You will have washed from your hands all 
the guilt of blood. But my friends. I anticipate for Greece 
a brighter destiny. I will not allow such dark and dismal 
forebodings ; for though the cloud is heavy, and though 
torrents fall, and though the lurid lightning descends, and 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 139 

though the thunder rolls, hope spreads one line of light 
upon the bosom of the storm, and anticipation paints the 
rainbow on the cloud as it retreats, far, far away. Oh ! if 
the sun of freedom shall once more pour on this land its 
full, warm, vivifying beam, if the way shall be prepared by 
which institutions like our own can be established where 
Solon and Lycurgus legislated, if facilities are offered, by 
which the religion of the Son of God in all its knowledge, 
and holiness, and purity, shall take the place of ignorance 
and superstition, and pollution, and the Greek experience 
that moral transformation which qualifies him by the new- 
created nobility of his spiritual condition, to rank with the 
people of the Most High God, both here and hereafter; and 
if all these things should come to pass through your instru- 
mentality, blessed, thrice blessed, will be the effort. Oh ! 
yes ! if your sympathy, now awakened, should rouse the 
almost despairing energy of the Greek to more intense 
exertion; should it kindle the animation of hope on the 
patriot's brow, and nerve him to a deeper struggle ; should 
it sustain but for a little while the needy and famishing; 
should your bread, now about to be 'cast upon the waters,' 
return to you ere many days, in the recovered liberties, in 
the regenerated Christianity, in the new-found happiness of 
Greece ; never — never would it be among the regrets of 
your life, but rather among your brightest reminiscences, 
that on this night, hallowed in the history of your benevo- 
lence, you gave — and gave, not with a niggard parsimony, 
but a liberal, open hand, to clothe your naked, and to feed 
your famishing brother." 

His preaching was powerful in producing impressions 
upon the minds of all who heard him. Few were ever 
before him entirely listless or unexcited. At home and 
abroad he was made successful as a preacher, in the most 
desirable manner, and seals to his ministry may be found 



140 MEMOIR OF 

scattered through all the churches which he visited. Hun- 
dreds of immortal beings have "passed from death unto 
life" under the proclamation of the Gospel by him. Many 
of these preceded him to the tribunal of the great Searcher 
of hearts. Many others have survived him. to stand up and 
call him blessed. The Holy Spirit was pleased thus to 
make his ministry eminently effectual. In the congregation 
with which he was last connected, spiritual piety in the 
conversion of many souls, and efforts for the extension of 
the Gospel to others, have been seen to be very extensively 
the results of his labors. But in places where he was 
transiently preaching, and sometimes only upon single occa- 
sions, many instances have been known, in which souls were 
given him as " the seal of his apostleship in the Lord." 
His manner of expression was remarkably direct, and as he 
held up to view some aspect of human character, or pre- 
sented some particular message of the Gospel, the words 
seemed, to each individual before him, to be addressed 
especially to himself. 

He was preaching upon one occasion in a city distant from 
his home, to a congregation that crowded the house in which 
they were assembled, and manifested a strong and general 
feeling of seriousness in listening to his discourse, when 
suddenly an individual in the gallery burst out into a loud 
cry, which created great agitation and attracted universal 
notice. It was soon, however, quieted, and the preacher 
finished his discourse. He left the place for his own home, 
and some time afterward a gentleman of highly respectable 
character called on him, and after an introduction to him 
reminded him of the circumstance. The stranger informed 
him that he was the man who had thus involuntarily dis- 
turbed the congregation by the utterance of awakened feel- 
ings which he could not suppress, and requested as a personal 
favor, that he would sit to some artist whom he should pre- 
fer, at his expense, for his portrait. 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 141 

The compliance with this request was postponed until 
the decease of Dr. Bedell rendered a literal fulfillment of it 
impossible. It is gratifying to know, however, that this 
gentleman has since gained his object, by obtaining a copy 
of a portrait previously taken. Some extracts from letters 
received from him, will afford an interesting addition to this 
account : 

" It was with emotions of pleasure that I received your 
letter of the 24th inst., informing me that I might expect 
the long-looked for memento, and I now express to you my 
entire satisfaction with the execution of the painting, and 
with every thing connected with it. We and others think 
it an admirable likeness, a perfect facsimile of the original. 
We take this opportunity of tendering you our thanks and 
gratitude for your kindness, without which probably we 
should never have succeeded in procuring it, as I had made 
previously several abortive efforts. In answer to the inquiry, 
whether I desired to have the portrait of Dr. Bedell merely 
to increase a collection of paintings, I promptly reply, No. 
I have but one painting in my house beside the one in ques- 
tion, and that is an ancient portrait of my grandmother. It 
was entirely on account of my partiality and attachment for 
him whose fervent piety, useful life, and transcendent pulpit 
talents deserve all praise, and whose memory should be 
cherished by all, but particularly by those who by his instru- 
mentality have been awakened to a sense of their highest 
and best interests, namely, the interests of eternity.*' 

In reply to a question, whether he designed this last 
sentence to be applied to himself, the same gentleman writes 
again : 

" I cheerfully give you the information required. I corro- 
borate the quotation from my letter, having intended it as 



142 MEMOIR OF 

peculiarly applicable to myself. It was precisely twelve 
months after the Convention at * that I had an intro- 
duction — accompanied by a very dear and intimate friend, 
who is now no more — to Dr. Bedell, at the house of Mrs. 
S., in Alexandria. I solicited him, as a favor, upon his re- 
turn to Philadelphia, to sit, that I might procure his portrait, 
stating it would be a great gratification to me. At first he 
endeavored to evade it by saying he thought it an unneces- 
sary expenditure, inasmuch as I could get a copper-plate 
likeness for five dollars, thinking, no doubt, that it was 
merely a momentary ebullition of feeling in me. But he 
finally consented, whereupon I told him he should hear from 
me as soon as I returned home. * * * 

u In performing your laudable task you are welcome to 
use the quotation alluded to, in any way your judgment may 
direct. But at the same time I must beg the favor of you 
to withhold my name, not that I am unwilling to aid the 
cause which is so deserving of all aid, but from the desire to 
remain the same humble and obscure individual as hereto- 
fore. — With Christian regard, yours.*' 

While Dr. Bedell's uniform style of preaching was this 
plain and simple annunciation of the message which he had 
to deliver, and he always dwelt upon the most important 
truths, in the most intelligible, serious, and affectionate man- 
ner, and, as was very manifest, in the spirit of humble 
prayer and faith, it is not surprising that he was uniformly 
successful. A clergyman writes of him : 

"I recollect distinctly hearing a sermon on the subject of 
Mary, in which I was struck with an unusual boldness to 
which I had not been accustomed. He told the congregation 
that false delicacy should never prevent him from presenting 

* The time at which the event described above occurred. 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 143 

any truth which might be edifying to them. On another 
occasion he had been told, in reference to some of his ser 
mons, that he would preach the church empty. He took 
occasion from the hint to tell his people, on the following 
Sunday, that he would preach the truth, though the walls 
should tumble about his head. On another occasion, a 
gentleman of the first respectability accosted him in a place 
where he was preaching upon a visit;, in these words : ' Well, 
Sir, you are the only man who could bring me out twice a 
day.' He replied, ; Sir, I am sorry that your respect for 
me is stronger than your sense of duty to God.' " 

On one New- Year's day, a fashionable young man, very 
giddy and thoughtless, who seldom attended church at all, 
was prevailed upon by a near relative, a member of St. 
Andrew's Church, to accompany her. He reluctantly con- 
sented, as a compliment to her. During the sermon, for the 
first time, he felt the power of divine truth, and saw himself 
a sinner, lost and perishing. He remained after its close, 
while the tears of sorrow flowed from his eyes, and he thus 
gave utterance to his feelings : " I never felt as I do at this 
moment ; every thing, past and future, appears to me in a 
totally new light." This light, which broke in upon his 
benighted soul, eventuated in a comfortable hope of forgive- 
ness and acceptance through the blood of Christ. He has 
since devoted himself to the ministry, and his character gives 
ground for hope, that he too will be made the instrument of 
turning many others " from the power of Satan unto God." 

The following extract from the communication of a friend, 
presents some very interesting details of the power which 
attended the ministry of Dr. Bedell, and the effects which 
were produced by it, and is well adapted, in connection with 
what has preceded, to develop the peculiar style of preaching 
which he adopted with so much wisdom and success. 



144 MEMOIR OF 

" It was well known how successful our dear pastor was 
in addressing the young, and what crowds attended, when, 
on Sabbath evenings, he preached to them. Many came 
merely to have their intellectual taste gratified, but returned 
to their homes with hearts deeply affected, and affections 
turned toward heaven. There was certainly something pe- 
culiar in his manner of addressing the young. I have never 
heard another so deeply interesting as Dr. Bedell on such 
occasions ; his knowledge of human nature, his talent for 
describing the particular snares which hindered them from 
becoming Christians, his exhibition of real interest in their 
welfare, the deep pathos of his exhortations, and the sweet 
yet solemn persuasiveness of his tones, all combine to render 
him not only one of the most attractive but one of the most 
successful preachers to that class of hearers. How often, 
after having heard him preach, have I been followed day by 
day, by a few words of deep and thrilling import, uttered by 
him in his touching and impressive manner ; sometimes one 
word alone, perhaps 'eternity,' pronounced with solemn 
accent, and accompanied by his uplifted finger, has rung in 
my ears for days together ; at others, a verse of a hymn, and 
sometimes a passage of Scripture, has produced the same 
effect. But it was not his manner alone which arrested 
attention ; it was the substance also of his preaching, the most 
striking characteristics of which were clearness and simplicity ; 
the impression left on my mind by the whole course of his 
preaching is this : I can not say that he ever failed in fully 
explaining the most difficult doctrines of the Bible, entirely 
to my satisfaction, reconciling differences, and constantly 
presenting the Scriptures as a beautiful chain of harmony 
and order. He never overburdened the minds of his hear- 
ers by a variety of leading truths in one sermon ; but always 
carefully dissecting passages of Scripture, divided the differ- 
ent heads into distinct sermons, always striving to leave 
one prominent truth, clearly and simply stated, for the medi- 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 145 

tation of the people. It was this habit, I think, with the 
blessing of God, which rendered his ministr y so truly instruct- 
ive. He never left a subject before it was fully and faith- 
fully discussed. I can most generally remember the manner 
in which he divided his discourses ; but in every case, I am 
still impressed with the recollection of different truths, taught 
in each discourse; this was his object, and in this he suc- 
ceeded most remarkably. I became so familiar with his style, 
that I could generally tell what would be the tenor of his 
sermon with but very few exceptions. Although so simple 
in his manner of preaching that all might understand him, 
we can all remember the elegance and purity of his style, the 
refinement and sublimity of his taste, the coolness of Ins 
judgment, the warmth of his imagination, and yet his entire 
freedom from rant or enthusiasm, so generally ending in 
coarseness and vulgarity. With what boldness he declared 
the truth, with what sweetness and affection he presented its 
claims, and with what feelings of sorrow he often mourned 
over the coldness and indifference of his people to the love 
of Jesus Christ! 

" An anecdote just now occurs to my mind, which was 
related to me about three years ago, by a Presbyterian 

clergyman in N , where I was then on a visit. I am not 

certain that I remember all distinctly, but I will endeavor 
to tell you as nearly as I can. This minister had a brother 
who once visited Philadelphia, and went to hear Dr. Bedell 
preach in the evening : his sermon was death, and I think 
his text was this : - This night thy soul shall be required of 
thee.' He was powerfully awakened, and so much alarmed, 
that he was afraid to stay at night in his own room. And 
so fully was he impressed with the certainty of death com- 
ing to him that night, that although staying in a public house, 
he wandered about from place to place, in a state of Fearful 
anxiety, but carefully concealing the true reasons from all 
observers. He lived, however, to drive away these solemn 
7 



146 MEMOIR OF 

feelings, and about the same time in the following year, went 
again to hear Dr. B., when he was again solemnly addressed 
on the same subject. He began to think that there was 
something peculiar in all this, was again alarmed, and, 
through the instrumentality of succeeding providences, was 
led to submit his heart to God, and, at the time his brother 
related the anecdote to me, was a decided Christian. Pro- 
bably Dr. Bedell never knew of this, and I doubt not that 
many other passing strangers will appear in the day of 
eternity as stars in his crown of rejoicing, whom he never 
knew on earth, but who, through his instrumentality, were 
first led to think of their immortal souls. 

" Many will remember the sermons preached from the 
text, { Run, speak to this young man ;' also these words, 
1 1 have a message from God unto thee ;' and again, ' I have 
a great work to do, and therefore I can not come down.' 
Many will also remember one lecture delivered in the lec- 
ture-room soon after a confirmation, from these words, ' I 
have no greater joy than that my children walk in the truth.' 
"What blessed words of encouragement fell from his lips on 
that evening, as he sat surrounded by so many whom he 
could, in the endearing relation of the Gospel, call his child- 
ren, so lately entered on their way to heaven, familiarly 
instructing them, cherishing them with the tenderness even 
of a mother, and with Christian faith and hope pointing 
them to that place of meeting where pastor and people shall 
part no more for ever. I can never hear the hymn, 

" 'Par from my thoughts, vain world, begone,' 

without recurring to the many Friday evenings when I have 
joined with the dear people and pastor of St. Andrew's in 
singing those sacred words. The trembling tones of the 
voice which used to raise them are still familiar to my ear ; 
and although it will never again break the silence of those 
hallowed walls, so powerful is the effect of constant asso- 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 147 

ciation, that even now it seems as if I really heard the voice 
joining in our responses, or uttering its well-remembered 
cough. But could we indeed hear the strains which the 
departed now sings in his Father's house, never again 
could we regret that they will no more be rendered discord- 
ant by the air of this lower world." 

After the foregoing remarks, it need hardly be added that 
his style of preaching rendered him always a favorite with 
the public, and increasingly popular to the end of his minis- 
try. His church was the most crowded one in the, city of 
Philadelphia. His reputation was so extensively spread 
abroad that few strangers passed the Sunday in this city 
without seeking an opportunity to attend upon his ministry. 
The church was opened for evening worship on the first 
Sunday of every month. On these occasions it was the 
subject of regular expectation through the whole course of 
his ministry, that even the aisles would be crowded with 
persons anxious to hear the truth from his lips. Many 
were sitting in the church for an hour before the time of 
service, that they might secure their seats ; and very often 
such numbers left the doors, unable to effect an entrance, as 
to convey the idea to others that the church was closed. 

A very distinguished clergyman who preached for him on 
a Sunday evening, the first occasion of the kind on which 
he had been in Philadelphia, remarked when the services 
were concluded, that he " had often heard of the immense 
congregation of St. Andrew's Church, but he had formed no 
conception of its magnitude^ The living mass before him, 
crowding every portion of the house, reminded him only of 
that universal gathering of souls which would take place at 
the day of judgment." Such indeed was the appearance of 
this congregation on this monthly occasion — solemn, still, 
and attentive, but crowded together even to an uncomfort- 
able extent. 



148 MEMOIR OF 

The method of preaching which he had adopted was 
both to write his sermons in full and to preach extempora- 
neously from short notes. Some of his best and most 
effectual sermons have been of the last description, which 
are of course entirely beyond our reach for further benefit. 
Few, comparatively, of his sermons were entirely written. 
The latter part of the most of them was left to be supplied 
at the time of preaching. He habitually preached to his 
own congregation three times in each week ; beside his 
frequent public addresses in other relations in the religious 
community, and the variety of religious meetings which he 
held with his people in the course of his pastoral duty, 
which will be subsequently referred to. The following 
extract from the anniversary sermon at the close of his 
tenth year of ministry in St. Andrew's Church, describes a 
part of his course of labor in public preaching : 

" We h^ve abundant reason to say, i Hitherto hath the 
Lord helped us,' when we consider the amount of labor 
which God in his mercy has permitted your minister to 
perform. He wishes here merely to state facts, that God 
may have the glory. You know that for six of the ten 
years he has now ministered before you, his health has been 
greatly impaired, and yet when the facts are looked at it will 
be remarked that an extraordinary amount of duty has been 
performed. Including this morning, he has been able to 
preach in this church exactly 700 times, which amounts to 
a fraction beyond six years and a half of uninterrupted 
preaching ; 28 Sundays, or in amount, 56 sermons only has 
he been kept from the pulpit by actual sickness. Taking 
this from 1040, which is the amount of public occasions 
during ten years, there will be a balance of 284 times to be 
divided between absences for health, absences for business, 
either private or ecclesiastical, exchanges with other clergy- 
men and courtesies to brethren, beside some few occasions 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 149 

of Episcopal services by the Bishops, and about three 
months in the ten years, during which, for repairs or other 
contingencies, the church has been closed by the orders of 
the Vestry. In addition to the 700 times of public preach- 
ing, he has been enabled to hold lectures on week-day 
evenings, and has officiated at these 296 times, beside not 
less than 50 lectures on week-days, and, in amount, four 
years of weekly Bible-class instruction. I have given this 
detail, my friends, simply that both you and I may feel 
the force of the declaration, 'Hitherto hath the Lord 
helped us.' " 

His manner as a public speaker was entirely peculiar ; 
retiring, unostentatious, simple, apparently unconscious of 
the effect which he produced, and the popularity of his elo- 
quence, and quite unmoved by any desire to exhibit him- 
self. On occasions when he was to preach, or to speak, 
he generally sat in a retired corner until his proper time of 
speaking ; his downcast eye and peculiarly humble and 
modest demeanor indicating to every one around that he 
was least of all anxious to be seen or heard for his own sake. 
As the time arrived for him to commence, nothing could 
exceed in simplicity and forgetfulness of himself the mamier 
in which he arose before an audience, who were silent and 
watchful in their anxious suspense, and began the address 
in which he was to be engaged. His manner was perfect 
calmness ; his voice was strong, and clear, and sweetly 
melodious, but not loud ; his articulation was remarkably 
distinct, and without any apparent effort to himself, he was 
always heard with accuracy throughout the largest house of 
worship. The two extracts which follow, present very 
exact and beautiful illustrations of his manner and appear- 
ance as a public speaker. The first is from a gentleman 
who was present at the meeting, which is thus described to 
his wife, a member of St. Andrew's Church. The occasion 



150 MEMOIR OF 

was a meeting in Baltimore, for the promotion of Sunday 
schools in the Valley of the Mississippi, November, 1832. 

"I found at half past six o'clock the streets were crowded 
with people going to Mr. Nevins' Church. I went, and 
when seven struck, there was no Mr. Bedell. After some 
time, a chairman was named, Alexander Brown, Esq. : after 
which, Mr. Baird spoke a considerable time. When he had 
done, I perceived Mr. Bedell walking in like some poor 
pilgrim, with a white handkerchief round his neck, over his 
surtout coat. He sat meekly till Dr. Brandy spoke, then 
Dr. McAuley, then Mr. Nevins, the pastor of the church, a 
very few words relative to taking down the names, after 

which came , ; Dr. Bedell.' Others had spent their 

talents on this subject before he spoke : of course you may 
suppose he must have felt disadvantageously situated, as he 
must not reiterate remarks made by those who preceded 
him. But he came out, as he should, as every divine herald 
ought to do, and contrasted his view of the probable means 
of success in this undertaking with those before expressed 
by others. One was for human agency. Where were men 
to be had who would act in the field ? Another demanded 
money. Without money, he had said, neither this nor the 
Gospel were expected to prosper; for this simple reason, 
because God has not chosen angels to do those great works, 
but men of like passions and habits with ourselves, who 
require to be clothed, to be transferred from one place to 
another, etc. This I was much pleased with ; but last of all 
stood up Mr. Bedell, whose name being announced by the 
pastor, Mr. Nevins, (the only name which was announced to 
speak,) many who had sat all the previous time, stood up, 
ladies and gentlemen. Oh ! how did I feel on beholding 
him? He had but just arrived in bad weather; his plain 
appearance, his prominent eyebrows, his praying counte- 
nance ; he was very weak, to which he alluded in liis 
remarks. He took his view, and showed that prayer was 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 151 

the great engine by which this work would soon be accom- 
plished. I can not represent faithfully his attitude. The 
impression made on the audience was shown by profound 
silence and attentive looks. He mentioned the great efforts 
he had already seen from the Monthly Concert of Prayer, 
that God heard and was answering his people's prayers, 
great proofs had recently been shown to him.' 5 

The next extract is from a letter of the Rev. Matthew H. 
Henderson, of Newark, Xew-Jersey, transmitting to the 
editor, in compliance with his request, some interesting 
extracts of Dr. Bedell's letters to him, several of which will 
be found in the succeeding pages. At the close of this inter- 
esting communication, the writer observes : 

" It always had been an object of considerable desire with 
him to pass some portion of his time in the family of one 
whom he had for several years regarded in the light of a 
' son.' His intentions, however, had always been frustrated, 
and it was not until about two months previous to his death, 
that he was enabled to pay us a transient visit. His physi- 
cal system appeared to be at this time, to use his own lan- 
guage, unusually prostrated ; for although he " continued to 
drive his own vehicle, yet extreme debility and languor 
utterly unfitted him for any prolonged conversation. Still, 
however, he was not prevented from preaching. In fact, the 
pulpit was his home ; and never, so long as he had strength 
to walk, did his voice fail him, or his life and energy of man- 
ner cease in the delivery of the Gospel message to sinners. 
This interesting circumstance had often been a source of 
wonder to many of his friends ; but never, perhaps, had it 
been more strikingly exemplified than on the present occa- 
sion. He was at the time on a visit with his family to his 
sisters in Elizabethtown, and came in the morning to New- 
ark, (four miles distant.) about an hour before divine ser- 



152 MEMOIR OF 

vice. His extreme debility, however, rendered him unable 
to attend church, and he remained at my house reclining 
upon a sofa, until the hour of the afternoon service. It was 
with great apparent effort that he walked, although the 
church was directly across the way ; and he found it neces- 
sary to remain in the vestry -room during the hour of prayer. 
It was a day long to be remembered, especially by those 
who had previously sat under his ministry, and heard, in the 
delightful accents of his sweet voice, the unsearchable riches 
of the Gospel of Christ. The church was crowded, proba- 
bly more than one thousand people were present, all in anx- 
ious expectation, when, during the concluding stanzas of the 
psalm, Dr. Bedell appeared slowly ascending the staircase 
of the pulpit. His infirm and yet composed stjep, his strik- 
ing appearance, altogether attracted at once the undivided 
attention of the whole congregation, and as the last tones 
of the organ died away while he was taking his accustomed 
seat,* a breathless silence pervaded the house, a silence not 
interrupted for a moment throughout the whole of the elo- 
quent and deeply impressive discourse which he delivered. 
His subject was the repentant prodigal. The solemn inter- 
est of the occasion was undoubtedly heightened by the 
mournful impression made upon all, that the voice to which 
they were listening would soon be hushed in the silence of 
the grave. The tone of his voice was, as usual, mild and 
impressive, but toward the conclusion of his sermon, in 
expostulating with the impenitent, he broke forth with an 
energy which caused every heart to thrill and shudder with 
overpowering emotion. He was frequently interrupted 
throughout by a distressing cough, a circumstance quite 
unusual ; and he remarked afterward, in a brief note of his 
travels, that he preached on this occasion with * uncommon 
difficulty.' 75 

* It is probably well known that for several years he had sat in the 
pulpit while preaching, being unable to stand. " Mr. H." 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 153 

The remarks above made upon his total unconcern for his 
own reputation merely, and his apparent want of conscious- 
ness of the great popularity which distinguished him as a 
preacher, are entirely sustained from his whole character, 
by those who knew him the most intimately. He very 
rarely referred at all to his own services, nor did he allow 
remarks in applause of them to be made to himself. A 
clergyman, who was most intimately connected with him, 
writes thus in regard to his apparent indifference to the 
opinion of others upon this subject. 

" He was remarkable in not seeming affected, as many 
preachers are, by the manner in which he acquitted himself. 
He seemed to feel the same, whether he went beyond, or 
fell below, the ordinary character of his preaching. I asked 
him once, how this happened ? How he had acquired such 
control over his feelings ? He replied, that soon after he had 
begun his ministry in St. Andrew's Church, while the church 
was yet new, and the congregation composed, in part, of 
many who were not his ow T n people, he had, what he felt to 
be, an inferior sermon, which caused him some anxiety about 
his reputation. This feeling he knew to be wrong, and 
though he had a more satisfactory sermon at hand, he 
thought it would be a wholesome self-mortification to preach 
the one which he had prepared for the occasion. He did so, 
and was called upon in the vestry by an individual who 
stated that his mind had been very deeply impressed by it. 
This person has since been a most valuable member of his 
church. Ever afterward, he said, he had no such improper 
jealousy about his own reputation." 

After the preceding remarks upon Dr. Bedell's preaching, 

I ought not to pass without notice what I might call his 

great attention to the proper manners for the pulpit and the 

desk. He was remarkably simple in his appearance and in 
7* 



154 MEMOIR OF 

his style of dress. But he was unusually careful in his at 
tention to the little proprieties of conduct and appearance in 
the discharge of his public duties. In his clerical dress he 
was always neat. When he entered the desk, or chancel, 
or pulpit, to fulfill his appointed duty, there was a serious- 
ness and dignity in his walk, and countenance, and motions, 
which were very impressive. In reading the Liturgy he 
was uniformly accurate. In administering ordinances, he 
committed no blunders. The beautiful forms of worship 
appeared particularly beautiful, as they were ministered by 
him. There was no attempt to produce any effect by art ; 
but his great propriety, and gentleness, and self-possession, 
rendered every service more impressive as it was performed 
by him. In this I have always considered him the most 
chaste and perfect model that I had ever seen. Nothing 
was too unimportant to be noticed by him, and nothing that 
was connected with the service of God was ever despised. 
It can not escape the attention of any man of observation, I 
should suppose, how much influence upon the feelings and 
the character of a congregation, such a sense of propriety, 
on the part of a minister, is adapted to exercise. I may not, 
perhaps, be borne with entirely, in the remarks which I 
make. But it seems to me, when a minister of the Lord is 
engaged in the public duties of his station, the inattention to 
cleanliness of face and hands and clothes ; the odious habit 
of chewing tobacco ; frequent blowing of the nose, and spit- 
ting, with most unpleasant noises ; and even carelessness in 
the putting on of the clerical dress, and heedless inaccuracy 
in reading the public services of the Church, and the light 
habit of looking around upon a congregation ; all of which 
faults, and many similar ones, are often seen ; is an obstacle 
sufficient, among a congregation of ordinary refinement, to 
annihilate a large portion of the influence of a really valu- 
able and evangelical ministry. It would be exceedingly de- 
sirable, if in these matters which " ought not to be left un- 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 155 

done ' — though other more important things " must be 
done," our younger clergy would be determined to do " all 
things decently and in order" — that in no cases, persons of 
proper delicacy and taste should be offended, by very ap- 
parent inconsistencies between the public manners and the 
public station of the ministers of the sanctuary. Few of 
them are probably sufficiently aware, of the great effects 
which in this relation, some little matters are adapted to 
produce. They will pardon the frankness of the suggestion, 
and be led by it, I hope, to look in the example which has 
been now presented to them, at the real importance of con- 
sidering it with attention. 



156 MEMOIR OF 



CHAPTER VI. 

Pastoral Character — Diligence — Kindness — Watchfulness over young 
Christians — Intercourse with Communicants. 

Although Dr. Bedell peculiarly excelled in the pulpit, 
both in his method and manner, of publicly proclaiming 
"the truth as it is in Jesus," his peculiar excellencies as a 
preacher were by no means the most important or effectual 
portion of his adaptation to the great work of the ministry. 
He was abundant in labors of every description likely to do 
good to men; "instant in season and out of season," in 
warning, and guiding, and exhorting those with whom he 
was connected. The variety of instruments which he organ- 
ized and set in motion for the accomplishment of his great 
purposes of doing good, would have been likely to become 
confused, and to interfere with each other, but for the assi- 
duity with which he devoted himself to the great duty of 
superintending all, and the perfect method and regularity with 
which he arranged every department of effort, so that the 
whole machinery should work harmoniously together, to 
produce a single and desired result. His personal economy 
of time was very remarkable. When he first commenced 
his life, as a pastor and the head of a family, he adopted the 
habit of rising in the morning at four o'clock, to which he 
adhered until his failing health compelled him to seek for 
more indulgence, though even then he still retained the habit 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 157 

of very early rising. Some of his most popular and efficient 
sermons were prepared in the hours of a single morning, 
which were thus saved before the time of breakfast. This 
economy of time he carried through all his employments. 
He was never idle, and his almost innumerable duties were 
so systematized, that he never appeared to be hurried in 
the discharge of any duty, nor when most engaged, in the 
least degree impatient of interruption. When confined to 
the house by bad weather, he was accustomed to pursue the 
various studies which he had in hand, in their turn, devoting 
in every hour ten minutes to exercise, in walking - up and 
down the room, thus filling up the whole day with successive 
duties, and accomplishing large results without inordinate 
fatigue. This great diligence and regularity enabled him to 
give a large amount of time and attention to his engage- 
ments as a pastor, and to this portion of his ministry may 
reasonably be attributed, notwithstanding his excellence as 
a preacher, the larger measure of his success. 

In this view of his character as a minister of Christ it is 
difficult to convey an adequate idea of his efforts, or his 
success. Even with enfeebled health, and frequently con- 
fined for weeks together to his house, his heart was so 
engaged in the interests of his charge, and his mind had so 
regulated and arranged every thing around him, that the 
minutest circumstances connected with the spiritual welfare 
of the immense congregation to which he ministered, did 
not escape his observation. Every thing was still directed 
and moved by himself, even when lying in his bed with 
protracted suffering. His cordial love for the souls of his 
people was a spring of unfailing power. He was ever anx- 
ious to do them good, and never wearied with the efforts 
which the object required. 

He was accessible to all who felt the importance of reli- 
gion and desired his counsel in the path of duty. He refused 
admittance to none who came, and none ever failed to see 



158 MEMOIR OF 

that he was really and deeply affected with their wants, 
and interested in their spiritual welfare. Interruptions of 
this kind were almost unceasing, both from his habits of 
intercourse with his own people, and from the extended 
influence of his name, which brought many strangers to him 
also, for advice and direction in their various subjects of 
personal interest. But the same spirit of affection and ten- 
derness which breathed from the sacred desk, welcomed the 
approach of all who sought from him in private a knowledge 
of the truth. While ability for conversation was preserved 
to him, he would hear, advise, and comfort all who came to 
him for information in the ways of God. His whole habit 
with them was expressive of deep affection and sensibility. 
In his private ministrations and counsels there was a very 
rare combination of the soft and winning attributes of 
modesty and retirement, with the boldness and perseverance 
of the undaunted and enterprising. Seriousness and gentle- 
ness, fidelity and forbearance, decision and love, shone in 
beautiful accordance in his whole deportment as a minister 
of the Lord Jesus. His patience with ignorance and error 
appeared capable of illimitable extension. And yet with 
all this meek suavity in his intercourse with men, he never 
compromised an iota of the truth. One could hardly tell 
which the most to admire in his conduct as a pastor, the 
forbearance with which he endured the interruptions to 
other engagements from the multitudes who sought his 
counsel, or the plainness of speech with which, in the most 
affectionate manner, he laid open the truth to all. His 
ministry seemed a constant illustration of the negative of 
those demands of the poet : 

''Hast thou a foe. before whose face 
I fear thy cause to plead? 
Hast thou a lamb in all thy flock, 
My soul disdains to feed? ,,! 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 159 

This mildness and gentleness of demeanor, and readiness 
and cheerfulness in hearing and advising those who came to 
him, produced a very unusual degree of affection toward 
him in the congregation to which he ministered. The 
younger members of his flock looked up to him as a parent, 
and came freely to him for advice and encouragement in all 
their difficulties and trying circumstances of life. Many of 
the younger members of families not attached to his church, 
who were brought to the feet of the Lord Jesus under his 
ministry, and met with opposition and trouble from domestic 
sources, in entering upon the path of religious duty, found 
in his heart a perfect sympathy with their sorrows, and tes- 
tify to the faithfulness with which he guided and sustained 
them in the way of obedience to God. The following 
extract will illustrate his kindness and wisdom on one occa- 
sion of this kind : 

"About seven years ago my mind was most powerfully 
directed to eternal tilings ; I had begun to grow sick of the 
world and its follies, and felt myself to be a sinner travelling 
to eternity without a guide and without a friend, surrounded 
by every thing hostile to true religion, with but one serious 
friend, with very dark and imperfect views of religion, but 
ardently desiring to be not only almost but altogether a 
Christian. In this state of mind I was led by a female friend 
to Dr. Bedell's Friday-evening lecture. They were then 
held in the lecture-room, and so vivid are my recollections 
of the first evening spent in that sacred place, that it still 
appears to stand out as foremost among the many blessed 
privileges enjoyed in that spot. How well do I remember, 
even as though it were but yesterday, the impression made 
on my heart that evening ! The services were altogether 
different from what I had been accustomed to ; so social and 
yet so solemn ; so very simple and fervent the spirit per- 



160 MEMOIR OF 

vaiding all around, that I soon felt, here would I rest my 
weary feet, and join this heavenward band. 

" The impression made was so solemn, and the instruc- 
tions so exactly suited to my case, that I was convinced at 
once that this was what I needed ; and St. Andrew's, if 
possible, must be my home. 

"At this period there was a great deal of seriousness 
among the younger portion of the congregation ; our beloved 
pastor's labors had been greatly blessed, and many were 
inquiring, What they must do to be saved ? Among the 
number was one who in childhood had been my daily com- 
panion. Difference in our habits of life had separated us 
after leaving school ; but having been brought, through 
infinite mercy, at the same time to think of eternity, sym- 
pathy attracted us to each other again, and through her 
influence I was induced to attend one of Dr. B.'s inquiry- 
meetings ; these exercises were conducted in the boys' 
school-room. Several clergymen were present, each of 
whom spoke on different points of Christian experience, 
after which they conversed individually with inquirers. My 
friend introduced me to Dr. Bedell, and although timid and 
fearful, I was enabled to open my mind freely to him on 
the subject of my own feelings and desires. One thing is 
worthy of notice here, as a proof of his noble disinterested- 
ness. 

" I had been in the habit of attending another church, and 
not having received there the food I desired, I was very 
anxious to leave, and connect myself permanently with St. 
Ahdrew's. My family were very much opposed to such a 
course, and therefore I hesitated to join the communion of 
any church. Had Dr. B. said but a few words to that 
effect, I should have left at once ; but he pursued another 
course, and with his characteristic wisdom and prudence 
advised me not to be hasty, still to go sometimes to my 
former church, bidding me welcome to St. Andrew's and 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 161 

her communion whenever I could come, and affectionately 
exhorting me to fidelity and a closer walk with God. This 
interview increased my respect for his character, strength- 
ened me in my new pursuits, and decided me in the course 
which I should take. I would then have made very great 
sacrifices, if convinced that duty required it, in order to 
place myself beneath the care of one so kind and faithful ; 
but I was enabled to take his advice, and for one year with- 
held my name from the register of either church, hoping 
that Providence would open a way whereby I might accom- 
plish yet what then appeared so unlikely. At the end of a 
year, according to my pastor's prediction, difficulties were 
removed, and I was permitted to enrol my name as a 
member of the church of my affections. 

" Immediately on gaining permission to join St. Andrew's 
I turned my steps toward my pastor's house, and can not 
describe how relieved and joyful I felt on finding myself 
actually on the steps, on an errand so long and anxiously 
desired. I was received with kindness by Dr. B., and 
affectionately welcomed as one of the members of his 
beloved communion. Shortly after this I took tea with his 
family, in company with some other friends, and as Christ- 
ian society was new to me then, I need not say how sweet 
and refreshing such occasions were. After family worship, 
our dear pastor delighted us with some of his sweet music 
on the organ ; time flew rapidly by, and the hour of depart- 
ure came too soon. I returned home from this visit more 
than ever convinced that religion's ' ways are ways of pleas- 
antness, and all her paths are peace.' I compared the social 
joys of Christians with those of the world ; I thought of the 
hours I had often spent in thoughtless pleasure, and felt how 
truly vain and unsatisfying are all. 

" The true Christian alone enjoys even this world, and 
were nothing more than his present happiness concerned, he 
is the wiser man ; the remembrance of such hours is sweet, 



162 MEMOIR OF 

and mournful, too, indeed; for alas! like the dearest of 
earthly joys, they are gone for ever ! But even while taking 
this melancholy view there is comfort for the Christian, 
because we know that the joys of communion with kindred 
spirits will be renewed in a brighter, holier world than this. 

" ' When we at death must part, 
It gives us inward pain ; 
But we shall still be joined in heart, 
And hope to meet again. 

" ' From sorrow, toil, and pain. 
And sin, we shall be free, 
And perfect love and friendship reign 
Throughout eternity.' " 

In his pastoral connection and duty no circumstance 
appeared ever to be forgotten, and no one was undervalued. 
His love for the souls of his people followed them in every 
path, and " was desirous of them with great desire," that he 
might by all means do good to some. Whenever he was 
visited he was found planning or accomplishing some opera- 
tion for the benefit of others. No prospect of labor deter- 
red him from efforts in the path of duty. No occupation of 
his time seemed so entire as to exclude attention to any new 
call which might be presented. There have been few men 
who made so much of time as he did ; and fewer still, who, 
amidst such obstacles and sufferings as he endured, would 
have been able to produce such important results. Though 
the whole course of his ministry in Philadelphia was in much 
bodily weakness, and seven years of it marked by incessant 
and very great personal suffering, probably no cotemporary 
laborer in the cause of Christianity, even with robust and 
uninjured constitution, has borne the same accumulation of 
duty, or has accomplished the same amount of actual benefit 
to man. This can only be accounted for by that habit of 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 163 

self-command which resisted the spirit of indolence and las- 
situde, and kept his powers up to their possible capability 
of labor in each day of his life. The variety of his plans 
and efforts in the ministry will, in some measure, come under 
our notice as we proceed. 

The remarks already made upon the kindness with which 
he received the members of his flock in their visits to him- 
self, will serve to introduce another important aspect of his 
pastoral character — his watchfulness over the character and 
deportment of those who were led to make a profession of 
religion under his ministry. The number of these was very 
great. In the following extract from the anniversary sermon 
before quoted, this subject is referred to : 

" On Sunday, October 5, 1823, the first communion in 
this church was celebrated. 

K There were then present thirty -four persons, all of 
them, it is believed, having been communicants of some of 
the other churches of our city. It is not my intention to 
trace the gradual increase. Suffice it to say, that on Easter 
last our actual number amounted to three hundred and 
thirty-four, exactly three hundred more than when the com- 
munion was first administered. This, however, does not 
give as favorable a view as the case really requires, for 
during the ten years which have passed, changes have taken 
place by death, removals, etc., to the amount of more than 
one hundred, so that there has been actually added to the 
church more than four hundred, the most of these by a pro- 
fession of religion here first made. This would make an 
average of forty a year — which is a circumstance cheering 
in some respects, while melancholy in others. It is melan- 
choly when we consider it in comparison with the numbers 
who continually listen to the sound of the Gospel ; but cheer- 
ing when it is viewed in comparison with others. Not to 
mention the fact in relation to the communicants of any 



164 MEMOIR OF 

Episcopal Church, I will merely state that in the life of a 
late most eminent and successful minister of the Gospel,* 
belonging to another denomination, it is observed that the 
communicants added to his church during a ministry of thirty 
years* continuance, averaged twenty-five a year. So that for 
the last ten years we have exceeded that by an annual ave- 
rage of fifteen. So far then as numbers are concerned, we 
go not behind any, and have reason to be thankful. But 
this is a small matter. It is not the number of the commu- 
nicants of a church, but their spiritual character which con- 
stitutes the subject of rejoicing. But on this point I am 
forbid by delicacy to say much. Let it be sufficient to 
remark, that with the most who have been admitted to the 
table of the Lord, under my own immediate ministry, I have 
reason to be satisfied. I have endeavored to be guarded ; 
and by some have been supposed unnecessarily severe. As 
it is, error has been made in some cases ; but I am not aware 
that there have been in ten years more than six cases of 
actual backsliding. There are some few who I think are not 
careful to walk as circumspectly as they ought, considering 
the solemnity of the profession they have made — some who 
have given too much up to worldly conformity, and are thus 
injuring their own spirituality, and the cause of Christ. But 
as a body, I have reason to rejoice in God that there is so 
much of real spiritual religion. My spirit has been con- 
tinually refreshed with the idea that, with but little excep- 
tion, (less, much less than is generally experienced.) I have 
no reason to doubt of the spiritual religion of those who 
kneel before this altar ; and when I think that nearly four 
hundred, who have at previous times, or will now this day 
join with me in commemorating the dying love of our 
Master and only Saviour, Jesus Christ, are able to trace 
their first religious impressions to the blessing of God on 

* Rev, Dr. Pavson. of Portland. 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 165 

my feeble ministrations, I have reason to say, 'My soul 
doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit doth rejoice in God 
my Saviour.' And then as I remember that unto God, by 
whose grace alone all this could be accomplished, belongs 
all the glory, on this day hallowed as the day of the Lord, 
and hallowed as the tenth annual return of my first procla- 
mation of the Gospel from this pulpit, I feel a peculiar 
emotion of gratitude to Him who hath done it all, and say 
with peculiar emphasis, in the language of my text, • Hitherto 
hath the Lord helped.' " 

In the admission of persons to a religious profession, not- 
withstanding he had so large a number added to his com- 
munion, he was particularly guarded and watchful. He not 
only conferred with them individually in private upon the 
important subject, placing in their hands also such books as 
he thought particularly adapted to their case ; but he also 
assembled them together repeatedly, before they came for- 
ward in either of the great ordinances of the Gospel in 
which they were to make their personal profession, for 
prayer and for such instruction as was adapted equally to 
them all. He was accustomed to say but little in his private 
conversations, but to direct especially all that he did utter 
to the peculiar character of the individual, which he appeared 
to discern with great readiness and accuracy. The follow- 
ing, from one of the seals of his ministry, will illustrate 
this remark in a striking instance, though probably there 
were few cases in which he was so reserved in conversation 
as in this. 

" Receiving the first serious impression of religious truth 
through the instrumentality of our departed friend's preach- 
ing, and looking to him for spiritual guidance and counsel, it 
might be supposed that many recollections of his conversa- 
tions, etc., could be furnished. It is nevertheless true, and 



166 smoxb or 

is perhaps characteristic, that he made few or no remarks, 
or imparted no verbal instruction on the subject of religion 
out of the pulpit to myself 

" Accompanying a much-loved aunt at her request to hear 
him preach, the sermon, in che power of the Holy Ghc st, 
convinced me of sin. I requested an interview in the vestry- 
room, where I remarked to him I found I could not r. i 
the Lord's prayer, taught me in childhc •■: 
all I could repeat after the struggle in my chamber, wl 
resulted, through his aid. in sal 

" His only remark or reply was, • I 
he placed in my hand a small tract 

on Regeneration. On returning this with a written remark 
on one of its passages, and being about to make a visit to 
Virginia, he placed a copy of Henry's Letters to an Anx- 
ious Inquirer in my hands, without remark. Being obliged 
in the spring to leave the city, and not feeling justified in 
coming at once to the Lord's table. I stated to him the 
doubt; he did not at all urge it, but j tth a 

copy of Bicker steth on the Lord's Supper. 

" Of the same character has been all subsequent inter- 
course with him. It seems to me, that having delivered the 
Lord's message from the pulpit, he had no anxieties I : uig . 
it personally, but committed it to the Holy 8j>n 
where instruction might be useful, modestly availed him- 
self of what had been written by thers. keeping, as it were. 
all obtrusive personal agency entirely ont of the question, 
not seeking to magnify himself, but seeming to think him- 
self less than the least. 

"His quick discernment of character enabled him to s~e 
at once the nature of your difficulties ; and he no doubt 
spread them with importunate prayer before God, rather 
than leaned to his own imderstandmg in much advice :: 
conversation. 

" Of the 'glad hours' enjoyed under his preaching, what 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 167 

shall be said 1 They are known by those who heard him, 
and by whom that did not, would the report be received ? 
An apostle once heard * unspeakable words, which it is 
unlawful for man to utter.' Under the melting eloquence 
of that voice, now hushed in the sanctuary below, is it too 
much to say that unutterable feelings, partaking more of 
heaven than earth, filled the heart bursting with its fullness? 
Whether in the body, or out of the body, was indeed for- 
gotten, while the light of that heaven-lit countenance beamed 
upon you, and the kindling eye and uplifted finger and 
pause, upon which you hung breathless, gave an emphasis 
and a thrill to that hour of holy time which no other could 
claim." 

He placed in the hands of those who desired to become 
united with the Church in any of its ordinances, the follow- 
ing circular, containing questions touching the great subject 
of personal experimental religion, to which he required from 
them answers in writing : 

"As you are about to make a profession of religion, I am 
exceedingly anxious that both you and myself should be sat- 
isfied on some points of importance ; and in order that this 
may be done, will you do me the favor (for I ask it as a 
favor, not as a right) to meditate on the following ques- 
tions, and give me your views in writing ] I have two great 
objects in view : one is, that I may be satisfied as to the cor- 
rectness of your sentiments ; and the other, that should I at 
any subsequent periods, as a faithful pastor, be obliged to 
remind you of any departures from the line of duty and of 
love, I may have the advantage of placing before you your 
own deliberate conclusions when you joined yourself to the 
Lord in the bonds of a covenant which ought never to be 
forgotten. Read these questions — pray over them — com- 
pare them with the word of God. If thev in the least 



168 MEMOIR OF 

depart from the simplicity of the Gospel, I have no wish 
that you should answer them. Satisfy your mind on this 
point. I wish you to act conscientiously, and in the fear of 
God. This is one of the most solemn periods of your life, 
and you must act as with eternity in view. Take two copies 
of your answers, written both in precisely the same words. 
Keep one for your own satisfaction — read it once every 
week, by yourself, and with prayer. Give the other copy 
into my hands. It is for my private satisfaction, as the 
pastor set over you in the Lord, and responsible for the 
manner in which I discharge my duty to you. May the 
Lord direct you, and keep you by his grace, and finally 
present you faultless before the presence of his glory with 
exceeding joy ! 

QUESTIONS FOR SELF-EXAMINATION. 

" 1. Do I acknowledge and feel that I am a sinner in the 
sight of God ? 

" 2. Do I recognize the necessity of repentance ; and 
what good reasons have I to suppose that I have repented 
of my sins ? 

" 3. What reasons have I to suppose that I have experi- 
enced that change of heart which is so frequently spoken of 
in Scripture? 

" 4. Am I sure that as a sinner, unable to save myself, I 
am resting my only hope upon the sole merits of the Lord 
Jesus Christ? 

" 5. Do I look upon the Lord Jesus Christ as a Divine 
Saviour, who took our nature upon him and died on the 
cross as an all-sufficient sacrifice for the sins of the world ? 

"6. Do I think that I am capable, without the influence 
of the spirit of God, to turn myself to his service ? 

" 7. Do I feel as if it was my duty, as well as privilege, 
to spend a stated time every day in prayer to God ? and do 
I take delight in this? 



REV. Die. BEDELL. 169 

" 8. Do I believe that the Bible is the word of God, and 
that I am bound to obey its requisitions % 

" 9. Do I think that I ought to read the Bible with regu- 
larity and prayer 1 and do I love to do so ? 

" 10. Do I believe that I am bound to give up my heart 
and life to the service of God ? 

"11. Do I believe it my solemn duty to make a public 
profession of religion % and do I think that I am called upon 
to maintain a consistent Christian profession ? 

" 12. What is my candid and free opinion as to the nature 
of what are called the amusements of the world, such as 
theatres, balls, games, etc. ? 

"13. Is it my opinion that I could with any kind of con- 
sistency engage in these things % 

" 14. Do I love any of these things now ? 

" 15. Should I be led astray in relation to these things, 
what do I think ought to be my own opinion of my spiritual 
state ? and what do I think ought to be the conduct of my 
pastor toward me? 

" 16. Do I think that I ought to be much engaged in 
advancing the Lord's cause by every lawful means % 

"17. Am I determined by the grace of God to adorn the 
doctrine of God my Savior, and let my light shine — to 
grow in conformity to God — and to seek, above all things, 
the glory of God and the salvation of my soul % 

" 18. Have I prayed over these questions? and have I 
answered them sincerely, and in the fear of God ? ' Be not 
deceived, God is not mocked.' 

" Let your answers be full and explicit. What I want is 
to ascertain the state of your mind as to the things of reli- 
gion. Thus I may know how to adapt my Christian instruc- 
tion to your case. 

" Let your answers be written on a separate sheet of let- 
ter paper, and let the number affixed to your answers cor- 
respond careful] v with the questions. 
8 



170 MEMOIR OF 

" If on any point you are in doubt, come to me. Gladly 
will I seek to direct you in any thing which concerns your 
eternal peace — and pray with you, and for you — for my 
heart's desire is that you may be saved, and be made, by 
your precept and example, the instrument of saving others — 
which may God grant, for his mercy's sake, in Jesus Christ 
the Lord ! Your Friend and Pastor." 

When there was inability satisfactorily to write in reply 

to these questions, or great objections to doing it, he gave 
two copies of the following also, which contained his views 
of proper replies to the questions proposed, and one of 
which they were required to subscribe and return him. 

"1. I do acknowledge and feel it sensibly ; and if I know 
myself to be a sinner, how much more perfectly does God 
see and know it ! 

u 2. I know that the Lord Jesus Christ has said, ( Except 
ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.' I believe that every 
impenitent sinner is under the condemnation of God, and 
the only good reason why I think I have repented is, that I 
have now most solemnly determined to forsake all sin, and, 
by the help of God, to serve him, and him alone. I feel a 
sorrow for my sins ; oh ! that I felt more ; but, Lord enable 
me to leave sin for ever. 

" 3. This is a hard question, and requires deep searching 
of heart. I do most sincerely believe that God has given 
me new feelings, and views, and motives, and objects. I 
think now of myself as a poor lost sinner ; I think of God 
as a just and holy God, and of purer eyes than to behold 
iniquity. I think differently of almost every thing ; I love 
what I formerly disliked ; I dislike what I once loved ; 1 
feel that I desire to do the will of God, and that my aim is 
the salvation of my soul; the world has not its former hold 
upon me, but I give up myself most willingly to serve God. 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 171 

If these may be evidences of a change of heart, I can answer 
this question, that I have these reasons to believe that my 
heart is changed. 

"4. I am sure of this, I do not wish any other foundation, 
even if I could find it. 

" 5. I do, and I accept his free offer of salvation to my- 
self; I take it as a free gift, unmerited by me now, and 
never to be paid for. ' Oh ! to grace how much a debtor !' 

" 6. No, I know and feel this 

"7. I do. 

"8. I do. 

"9. I do. 

"10. I do, and am determined, by the grace of God, so 
to do. 

"11. I feel it my duty, and it is my anxious desire, and I 
know that consistency is demanded of me. 

"12. I think them all sinful, inasmuch as they are con- 
trary to the express command, which says, 'Come out and 
be separate. Deny yourself.' And I think they tend di- 
rectly to lead away the mind from God. 

"13. Most certainly not. 

"14. No. 

" 15. I ought to think myself described in that saying of 
Scripture, 'Thou hast left thy first love,' and that my 
spiritual state would call for deep repentance, and a speedy 
return to God, and that my pastor ought to warn, rebuke, 
pray for and with me, and if all this fail to reclaim me, 
refuse me the privileges I had heretofore so very unworthily 
enjoyed. 

" 16. I do, and I will do so, by the help of God. 

" 17. I am. 

"18. I have. 

" And now, O Lord, receive this my solemn dedication of 
myself to thee ; I am thine by every right, but especially as 
bought with the precious blood of Christ. I here renounce 



Li'Z MEMOIR OF 

all self-dependence. Take me as I am. Seal me as thine 
own. Do with me as thou wilt. Enable me to love and 
serve thee as I ought to do. Guide me by thy counsel, and. 
when I die, receive me to glory, through the riches of thy 
grace in thy dear Son Jesus Christ. Amen!" 

After persons were admited to the communion of his 
Church, he adopted many instruments of personal watch- 
fulness over them. He held stated and frequent meetings 
of the communicants, at which, questions submitted by 
themselves relating to the various aspects of personal reli- 
gion were considered, and his views upon them, relieving dif- 
ficulties, dissolving doubts, and guiding in duties, were freely 
and fully expressed. These meetings were found espe- 
cially profitable by them, and were particularly interesting 
to him. He would express his delight in reference to such 
occasions, in the remark, " that when meeting such an as- 
sembly, he had the delightful consciousness that there was 
not one who did not at least profess to love the Saviour ; 
but when he met the great congregation, his soul was bur- 
dened with the reflection, that so many listened who were, 
and were likely to remain, the enemies of God." Of these 
meetings, one of the communicants of his church remarks : 

" Our Pastor held frequent meetings of his communicants 
during the last years of his ministry among us. Of one of 
these, I think it was the first, I have the following note. 
Lecture-room quite crowded ; nearly all the members of 
the Church present. The exercises were prayer, singing, 
and a short lecture from Dr. Bedell. He spoke of his own 
gratification in seeing us thus together: and pressed the 
necessity of personal holiness ; and especially that having 
no doubt of our own safety hereafter, we might be the bet- 
ter able to exert ourselves in behalf of others. He spoke 
of the shortness of our time, and of all time : and his belief 



KEV. DR. BEDELL. 173 

that those who should survive many years, would see ; one 
of the days of the Son of Man,' when he would take his own 
work in his own hands; and in some new and glorious 
method promote his cause." 

At these meetings subjects were discussed, entirely ap- 
propriate to an assembly of persons under the influence and 
government of true piety, but which would have been more 
difficult to exhibit with propriety and usefulness to a mixed 
congregation. The varied relative duties even in the most 
intimate connections of life, were here made the subjects of 
consideration. The instructions were so arranged by him, 
that the most of his admonitions and exhortations were given 
as answers to questions which had been previously proposed 
to him. On these occasions, Dr. Bedell displayed his remark- 
able knowledge of human nature and the habits of mankind. 
He found himself able to introduce the most delicate sub- 
jects of proper religious instruction, without offense, and in 
a form in which it was impossible that any injurious influ- 
ence could arise from the consideration of them. He exhi- 
bited always remarkable wisdom, in his choice of subjects 
as adapted to his hearers, bringing always before a mixed 
congregation, that which was calculated there to be useful, 
and reserving for more private occasions what was more 
especially adapted to such circumstances. In this way, the 
various subjects of religious truth and obligation were all 
considered by him in their turn, and religion was never ex- 
posed to reproach or scandal, by " casting its pearls before 
swine." His system of classifying his people and giving to 
them separately thus, " their portion of meat in due season," 
was a most valuable and useful habit of his ministry. It 
would be most desirable, that other ministers of Chris 
should consider the example, as worthy of their imitation. 

His attention to his communicants was not confined to 
oral instruction. He wrote to them for their guidance and 



174 MEMOIR OF 

instruction when they were absent from him. These letters 
would furnish a delightful addition to our present history, 
if they were accessible. Some of them follow, which, while 
they show how real and deep was the interest which he 
took in those who were thus connected with him, they only 
increase our regret that they are the only letters of the kind 
within our reach. 

"My Dear Friend: 

"My great anxiety to accompany my letter with the 
interesting little book which I promised, has kept me from 
writing much longer than I had intended, and now when 1 
am able to obtain the book, there is not to my knowledge 
any private opportunity by which it may be sent, so that I 
have determined no longer to delay the letter, though it 
must be without the book. 

"On some accounts I am not sorry that my letter has 
been delayed, because it has given me the opportunity of 
saying, that I have heard very good accounts of you from a 
source of which you are not aware. I can truly adopt the 
language of the Apostle John, and say, ' I have no greater 
joy, than that my children walk in the truth'— and it has 
given me much satisfaction to have learned, that your whole 

deportment while in E has been such as became the 

solemn profession of religion which you 1 have made. I can- 
didly confess that I had some misgivings of heart when I 
heard of your contemplated journey, not because I had the 
smallest doubt of your sincerity, but because I knew so well 
the difficulties by which a young female who makes a pro- 
fession of religion is surrounded, especially abroad. It is a 
difficult matter to maintain a decided Christian walk and 
conversation, even when at home, and amidst our friends, 
and engaged in our ordinary occupations; but it is still 
more difficult when abroad, and among those whom we may 
be desirous to please, even at some sacrifice. But I am 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 175 

anxious for you, my dear child, (if I may call a young lady 
my child in the Gospel sense of the term, for I desire to feel 
and to speak as a father,) not only that you should maintain 
consistency of religious deportment, but that you should 
improve in spiritual things, and that you should even seek 
to be of advantage to those who are about you. Religion, 
recommended not only by the example, but by the precepts 
of one so young as you, is a rare, and -will always be a 
lovely exhibition. I trust you know, for I have sought to 
be faithful in imparting instruction, that it is impossible to 
maintain a Christian walk and conversation without the 
most steady perseverance in the great and arduous duties 
of prayer, reading, meditation, and self-examination. I urge 
you, never, in all the engagements and plans upon which 
you enter, never to let one single cireumstance interfere 
with the regular stated duties which you owe to God and to 
your own soul. Be kind, be condescending, be particularly 
attentive to all your friends whose hospitality you are 
enjoying, but remember that there is one Friend and Bene- 
factor, who is never for one instant to be forgotten or 
neglected. It is He, who by his grace can alone sustain 
you, and enable you to exhibit in all its due proportions the 
loveliness of the Christian character. Look to Him for 
direction in whatever emergency you may be placed, and do 
nothing which you think would not meet with his approba- 
tion. By this course you will be safe, and return to us not 
only as well in spiritual health, but better than you went 
away. My respects to your friends, and 

"Believe me, your Friend and Pastor." 

The two following letters were addressed to another 
member of his church : 

"I have taken a long and unfashionable sheet of paper, on 



176 MEMOIR OF 

which to answer your very welcome letter, "because I do not 
wish to be obliged to write less than I desire. 

"It gratified me very much to hear, that in the g 
providence of God you reached your point of destim ' 
safely. The journey is long, and no doubt must have been 
connected with many circumstances both agreeable and 
disagreeable in their character. This is the character of all 
journeys, and it is the character of the journey of life, and 
especially is it the Christian's journey — for that journey is 
expressed under the term a pilgrimage. There are very 
■ few who have not found their pilgrimage made up of circum- 
stances both agreeable and disagreeable, but even that part 
of it which may be deemed disagreeable, is to the one who 
puts unhesitating trust in God. marked by character!- 
which, if they do not exactly turn pain into pleasure, at 
least neutralize the pain. For what does it matter v. 
befalls me during the short period I travel on earth, if God 
is with me — his rod and staff ready to uphold me ? If my 
journey be up hi!!, he is there to assist. If the road be 
stony and rugged, he is there with me. If I meet with 
unpleasant companions on the way. God is the best of com- 
pany. But I shall soon fill my paper if I go on at this t 
What I mean to say to you by all this preliminary and 
round-about matter is. that disagreeably as you may be 
situated, and up hill as you may find your course, yet one 
thing is certain, you may have the best company which 
mortal may look for, even God — and all things will work 
together for your good, if you will continue to love and 
serve Him. Of one thing you are to be especially cautious, 
namely, never to forget that the life of a Christian tfej 
on the regular supply of food from the Father's table. To 
God, then, always go for this supply, and never think of 
neglecting it. more than you would your daily food, lor the 
sustenance of the poor and perishing body. Indeed I think 
we may learn an excellent lesson from the rircumstan 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 177 

which are connected with our returning wants in respect of 
food. In the morning we hunger for our breakfast; then 
our appetite needs the enjoyment of dinner, and then in 
the evening we must have our supper. It is thus three 
time a day that our bodies require, and as they require, so 
they receive food. In the morning, and evening, and at 
noon-day, will I pray, says one of the Scripture characters 
who knew the necessity of continual waiting upon God. In 
your situation, where you are so destitute of spiritual privi- 
leges, that one blessed and glorious privilege of having daily 
communion with God through the medium of fervent prayer, 
can never be denied you. It would be yours, if no truth 
and no religion existed in the city where your lot is cast. 

"Long ere this you will of course have heard of the death 

of Mr. S . Since your departure I have not felt 

exactly at liberty to call on your mother and sisters, lest it 
should be supposed an attempt to induce them to attend St. 
Andrew's. I think, however, I shall call in a few days. 

" I am at the present time inclined to think that there is 
an excellent state of religious feeling in our congregation. 
There is a remarkable spirit of prayer poured out on the 
members, and many careless persons are evidently beginning 
to be deeply interested. On Sunday, the 29th, Bishop 
White is to hold a confirmation, and the number of candi- 
dates, including several who have already been admitted to 
the communion, amounts to forty-three. This, even should 
there be no more, will make no less than eighty-six con- 
firmed within the space of ten months, for our last confirma- 
tion was only in March. I trust and believe that the candi- 
dates are prepared by the Holy Spirit for taking upon them 
the vows of a solemn covenant with God. 

" During the few months last past we have had a severe 

visitation in the shape of influenza, and it has carried into 

the eternal world many old persons, and seems to have been 

peculiarlv fatal to them. But few, in the midst of all the 
8* 



178 MEMOIR OF 

judgments of God, learn righteousness. Many are cut off 
in the midst of their sins. I trust that the Lord has pre- 
served your own and the health of Mr. W , and that 

together you are striving to follow the Lord with full pur- 
pose. And now commending you 'to the Lord, who is able 
to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before 
the presence of his glory, with exceeding joy,' 

"I remain, your sincere Friend and Pastor yet" 

"I do not know that I should have been induced to 
answer your letter quite so speedily, had I not yesterday 
heard at the Bible-class that Mrs. C. is about sailing for 

, as early as Saturday. You will thus have another 

member of St. Andrew's Church. I hope you will be ena- 
bled to have much Christian intercourse, and that you may 
mutually edify and comfort each other. I have very little 
to say to you on the score of intelligence. In the wisdom 
of God, I have been so much shut up this winter, that I have 
had very little opportunity of mingling even with the affairs 
of our own St. Andrew's. For the last six or eight weeks, 
I have been obliged, by the imperative orders of my physi- 
cian, to abandon all exposure to the night air ; consequently 
I have not lectured on Friday evening, neither have I attended 
any prayer-meetings during that period. This is a great 
deprivation to me, as I do most truly delight, especially in 
the plainness and familiarity of the Friday-evening lecture, 
which I believe has been much blessed by our gracious God. 
But one thing I know, and that is, that it has been the Lord's 
pleasure thus to lay me by for the evenings, and I have 
nothing to say, but take the language of Scripture, ' It is the 
Lord, let him do what seemeth him good.' The lectures 
have been kept up by several of my brethren in the minis- 
tiy, and, upon the whole, they have been well attended. 

"Our Tuesday Bible-class has been but twice interrupted, 
and those interruptions were occasioned by violent snow- 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 179 

storms. We are now in the season of Lent, and our mem- 
bers are spending every Friday as a day of fasting and 
prayer. Last Friday was the commencement. The lec- 
ture-room was filled both morning and afternoon. I trust 
that these hours spent in prayer will, in infinite mercy, 
bring down a blessing upon us. I am very much rejoiced 
to hear that you have an Episcopal clergyman among you, 
who seems to be disposed to do good. Beg him from me, 
though a stranger, to be particularly on his guard against 
that bane of all Episcopal ministers in Southern countries, a 
supposition that he can win people to religion by seeming 
to give in to some of their worldliness and prejudices. Tell 
him, from one who has now had nearly twenty years of 
experience to teach him, that by such a course, absolutely 
nothing can be gained, but every thing lost ; nothing can 
win souls to. the Lord Jesus Christ, but the faithful preach. 
ing of the humbling doctrines of the cross, and the consistent 
walk and conversation of the minister ; thus letting the peo- 
ple see that there is a holy correspondence between what he 
says and what he does. 

" I very much approve of the course you have taken, as 
it regards mingling with the world. You had even better 
have no associates, than those who can in no wise benefit 
your soul. It may be hard for a while to get along with 
such determinations, but if you are faithful, the Lord will 
bear you out in them. 

" Within a few days, we have had something which begins 
to wear the appearance of spring, and it has been truly 
delightful to us here, who have been shut up by one *of the 
most uncomfortable winters that I ever remember to have 
experienced. 

" In your letter, you merely mention the name of Mr. 

, and say that he is well. We are very anxious to learn 

whether the serious impressions which appeared to have 
been made on his mind during the period of his sickness last 



180 MEMOIR OF 

summer, have been permanent, or whether his goodness has 
been like that of those of old, whom God complains of when 
he says, that it was 'like the morning cloud and the early 

dew, which pass away.' Mr. has an opportunity of 

ascertaining this, and I hope when I again have the pleasure 
of hearing from you, that you may be enabled to say some- 
thing definite on a point which is very interesting to us, 
being relatives of his. His wife is one of the loveliest and 
most devoted Christians in the world, and I trust his daugh- 
ter has also decidedly chosen the Lord for her portion. 

" There are many things in your letter which I would like 
very specifically to answer, but neither time nor paper will 
allow me. In a few months I trust you will be turning your 
face this way once more to visit us. I wish that your lot 
was cast here, but as God seems to will it otherwise, our 
duty is submission. 

"And now I must again exhort you to be much in prayer, 
to be steadfast, immovable, always abounding hi the work 
of the Lord, forasmuch as the promise is, that your labors 
shall not be in vain in the Lord. Make my best regards to 
your husband ; there is much for him to do in such a place 

as , and there is need of much circumspection. May 

the Lord enable him to hold fast his spiritual integrity, and 
grow in grace ! I learn that the children are well, but have 
had no opportunity of special inquiry. Mrs. B. had some 
conversation with one of them between morning and after- 
noon service last Sunday. Mrs. B. and Miss T. send their 
love. By the blessing of God, our family is in good health. 
"Believe me your affectionate friend and pastor." 

The following letter was addressed to a young gentleman 
who had lately made a profession of religion. Its paternal 
tenderness and wisdom render it not only to him, but to 
others also, especially valuable. 



rev. dr. bedell. 181 

"My Dear Sir: 

" Your letter, I can assure you, gave me great satisfac- 
tion; and I rejoice in God, that under circumstances so 
unfavorable as yours must be to any thing like the cultiva- 
tion of religious affections, your serious impressions have 
not only remained, but have appeared to strengthen. I 
rejoice also that you have made a public profession of your 
faith in Jesus Christ, and I do most sincerely pray that you 
may be enabled to adorn that profession by a correspond- 
ing course of conduct and conversation. While I hope these 
things, I still tremble when I think of the disadvantageous 
circumstances under which you are compelled to pass your 
time. But while you are shut out from society peculiarly 
religious, and debarred the privilege and the blessing of a 
preached Gospel, I know, and it is one great source of con- 
solation, that you have what neither place nor circumstances 
can deprive you of — the Bible — to which you can resort for 
reading, and the Bible's Author, to whom you can resort 
for spiritual direction ; and while, under an humbling sense 
of your own deficiencies, you make the former according to 
its own inspired language ' the man of your counsel,' and 
the latter your chief companion by prayer at morn and 
even, and perhaps at mid-day, you can not be materially 
estranged from the path of wisdom and happiness. But 
remember, my dear young friend, I beseech you, that you 
are in a world, and particularly in a situation of temptation, 
and that one false step may not only injure your religious 
character and the cause of Christ, but ruin your own peace 
of mind. In relation to every action, I trust you will seek 
to ascertain the will of God, and in all your modes of think- 
ing, follow the standard which His word presents. 

" It would gratify me very much, to hear from you occa- 
sionally, and especially in relation to your progress in what 
is called the ' Divine Life ;' whether you meet with ridi- 
cule, and reproach, and opposition — and what kinds, and 



182 MEMOIR OF 

under what circumstances — how far you are able to with- 
stand the worldly enticements which your situation must 
present — and indeed on all topics which are interesting to 
yourself, for they will be interesting to me. 

" I have given a list of books to your friend, and I send 
you as a present from myself a few volumes. In the Bible, 
the Christian has a library complete, but these other works 
are valuable as collateral helps, and your time can not 
be better occupied, than in endeavoring to improve in all 
that knowledge which concerns the soul's immortal inter- 
ests. By the same hand which conveys this letter, you will 
probably hear from your other friends, and from your rela- 
tions. I rejoice to say that Miss is now a follower of 

the Lord Jesus Christ. 

" Mrs. has been rescued from the brink of the grave, 

and in such a state of mind, that as far as I can judge, 'whether 
living or dying she is the Lord's.' Mrs. 1 have no oppor- 
tunity of seeing on the subjects of all the most important; I 
think a line from you to her would be valuable. Your 
letter to me which I sent her, produced, I am told, a great 
I can not say how deep an impression. It will be peculiarly 
gratifying for me to see you, and to find you ( growing 
in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
Christ.' Your sincere Friend, 

"G. T. Bedell." 

" addressed to a father on the conversion of his 
daughter. 

"My Dear Sir: 

" The letter which you did me the favor to address me, 
would have been sooner answered, had I not thought it best 
to wait the events of yesterday. I feel it a great privilege to 
be able to offer you my hearty congratulations on what the 
Lord, in his mercy, has seen fit to accomplish in your dear 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 183 

and interesting daughters ; and it is a peculiar satisfaction for 
me to do this to a father, on whose heart the dispensation of 
mercy and love may fall with the certainty of giving plea- 
sure. Your letter was truly welcome to me, because it 
seemed to give me a discretion which has relieved me from 
much embarrassment. 

" Your eldest daughter felt bound in conscience to seal her 
newly-awakened attachment to the precious Saviour by an 
approach in faith to the sacramental table, and after such 
examinations as could not fail to have satisfied the most 
scrupulous as to her fitness, I consented that she should com- 
memorate the dying love of Him whose grace had been so 
signally manifested in her behalf. Yesterday, with her 

beloved Mrs. at her side, she knelt at our Master's 

table, and I had the blessed privilege of administering to her 
the symbols of the Saviour's broken body and poured-out 
blood. I feel as if I ought to say, that she will make a 
Christian of a lovely spirit. Your other daughters, of whose 
conversion there can be no rational doubt, were deemed by 
myself not too young to attach themselves to the. Lord, 
even by a public profession ; still, endeavoring to act with 
prudence, 1 thought it best that they should have no conver- 
sation with me on that subject. Your eldest daughter, 
therefore, was the only one of the five converts, who was 
admitted to the table of the Lord. 

" By the help of God, according to your request, I will, 
as far as in me lies, watch over these dear young members 
of the fold of Christ." 

The following was addressed to an officer in the navy, 
since deceased. It shows how his spirit of love for souls, 
extended itself even beyond the limits of his own charge. 

" My Dear Sir : 

" There are some circumstances which appear to justify a 



184 MEMOIR OF 

departure from the ordinary course of dealing between man 
and man. I feel, then, as if the liberty I am now taking, is 
at least excusable from the motives by which I am actuated. 
It has just come to my knowledge, and in a measure acci- 
dentally, that you have been called to suffer under one of the 
severest dispensations which it is the lot of humanity to bear ; 
and I earnestly desire, as one to whom the memory of your 
departed wife is dear, to offer you those sympathies, and to 
administer those consolations for which the present melan- 
choly occasion calls. I knew her in those days when she was 
all life and gayety, and was always deeply interested in her 
beautiful simplicity of character ; but for some years before 
her marriage, and since that period to the time of your visit 
to this city, I had not seen her. I was then surprised, 
distressed, and delighted — distressed to behold the ravages 
which ill-health had already made, but delighted that she 
had been enabled to turn her attention to those things which, 
whether in health or in sickness, are essential to the future 
well-being of the soul. In reference to religion, she was a 
totally different beiDg from the one I had known before ; and 
although she did not appear to enjoy its comforts to that 
extent to which others are permitted to reach, yet this I 
could easily trace to the influence of bodily indisposition, and 
I apprehend, a presentiment of the catastrophe which to me 
has unexpectedly occurred. But why should I speak of her 
any more? The vision has fled, and I trust that she is 
now enjoying that bliss for which I was fully persuaded she 
was daily preparing. The stroke which has thus cut you 
off from one so interesting and lovely as a companion and 
friend, is indeed severe ; and these (strange as it may ap- 
pear to us) are among those mysterious dealings of God, 
the real source of which is love, and the ultimate aim of 
which is the benefit and happiness of the afflicted. I am a 
stranger to the religious impressions wdiich may animate 
your bosom : pardon me if I say, that I know not whether 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 1S5 

your attention has at all turned to the too-much and too 
fatally-neglected matter of religion : but I know that every 
dispensation, and especially one so afflictive as this, is meant 
to call the mind from earthly to heavenly things ; and in a 
moment of so much tenderness of heart, and of so much 
melancholy as this, I will venture, as a friend of your depart- 
ed wife, to urge what I feel would be gratifying to her were 
she living, that if you have never sought unto the Lord you 
would now submit to the teaching of his hand ; and if you 
have, that you would take comfort from the assurances of 
his word, that all things shall work together for good to them 
that love him, and that our light affliction, which is but for a 
moment, will, if properly improved, work out a far more 
exceeding and eternal weight of glory. It is only those of a 
like faith and hope who will be permitted to associate here- 
after ; for the future destinies of men are as different as the 
characters which they here sustained. If you would dwell 
hereafter with those who have departed in the true faith of 
the Lord Jesus Christ, you must follow the example of that 
faith. If you would share the inheritance of the redeemed, 
you must travel in the path which led them to their celestial 
habitations. I hope that I am writing to one who knows 
these things, and who is aiming at an inheritance among 
them that are sanctified by faith in Christ Jesus. If not, 
my exhortation, I feel, will not be taken amiss, as it has 
been elicited by the claims of friendship which I once held 
toward one who now needs no sympathies, and who has 
found a dearer than any earthly friend ever could have been 
— a Saviour ; who now enjoys a home far happier than the 
happiest of earth, a home of eternal rest. This dispensa- 
tion reads the instructive lesson, 'be ye also ready;' and 
adds the exhortation, ' be not slothful, but followers of those 
who through faith and patience inherit the promises.' 

"In the merciful and wise appointment of God, time 
softens the severity of sorrows, and administers its own 



ISO MEMOIR OF 

healing to the wounds of the heart ; but infinitely better is 
that consolation which flows from the pure source of religion. 
I need no apology for having directed your attention to these 
topics, at such a time. 

" It would be a matter of gratification, if at some future 
period, when your feelings would allow the exercise, you 

would give us some account of the last illness of Mrs. D . 

My wife, as well as myself, takes great interest in this 
subject. I leave this, however, as a matter resting entirely 
upon your own feelings. I have no peculiar claims, neither 
would I wish to urge a request of this kind, if in the least 
degree unpleasant. It is a mere personal gratification, and 
if it would harrass your feelings, and bring back recollections 
of too painful a character, I could not expect it. 

u With every feeling of sympathy, and every hope that 
this dispensation may be blessed to your everlasting 
welfare, 

" I remain, my dear sir, 

" Your friend and servant, 

"G. T. Bedell." 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 187 



CHAPTER VII. 

Pastoral Character — Attention to Communicants — The Evils attending' 
a Country Residence — Pastoral Letter on the Cholera — Pastoral 
Reproofs — Pastoral Visits. 

The watchfulness over his people which we have already 
exhibited, and of which we have been able to present some 
interesting illustrations, extended to all the changing circum- 
stances of their lives. No opportunity which might be 
improved by him for a good impression upon their minds 
was allowed to passed unnoticed. In his preaching to them 
he was accustomed to take advantage of every occasion 
which might furnish to him room for any peculiarly useful 
remarks. The same vigilance followed them in their private 
scenes and relations. An interesting illustration of this may 
be given in connection with a habit which he found much 
increasing among his people. A large portion of his con- 
gregation were accustomed to be absent from the city during 
a portion of the summer, either for an occasional journey or 
for a country residence. He saw and felt the ill effects fre- 
quently resulting from this interruption in their enjoyment 
of religious privileges, and their discharge of religious duties. 
To warn those over whom he watched as one that must give 
an account, he addressed them especially upon this subject, 
on some Sunday early in the summer before their general 
departure from the city, and again in the autumn after their 



183 MEMOIB OF 

return. I have not room for the exhibition of all his various 
addresses upon this subject. Some extracts from one will 
show his own feeling in connection with it. and the vigilance 
with which he observed his people, and the fidelity with 
which he admonished and warned them. The subject of 
this address, delivered to them in the month of June, is 
"The evils attendant on a residence in the country, and on 
travelling." 

" Since I have been settled in this city, the most cases of 
religious depression and declension which have come under 
my notice have occurred in the autumn of the year, and 
among those professors of religion who have spent their 
summers in the country, or in travelling. This is a curious 
fact, and one the causes of which are well worthy of investi- 
gation. I have been obliged to investigate the subject, in 
order that I might properly shape my pastoral instruction to 
individuals in private ; and those investigations are so strik- 
ing that I believe it of great importance to discuss the sub- 
ject as among the profitable themes of pulpit instruction. 
Upon what principles can we account for the fact, that in 
the autumn of the year, and among those who are professors 
of religion, we frequently find cases either of depression of 
spirits or of absolute declension on the subject of religion ? 
I can discuss this subject experimentally, because what I say 
is not abstract reasoning, but truth gathered from the history 
of some melancholy cases. Let it not be supposed that I 
am about to object to passing the distressing heats of the 
summer among the shades and delicious retirements of the 
country, or that I in the least object to travelling. No; I 
am an advocate for these, and the necessities of my 
health require the relaxation and refreshment which 
changes are calculated to produce. But let us not be blind 
lo the evils attendant on these things ; let us not be ignorant 
of the devices of the devil, for there can be no question 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 189 

that the great adversary takes advantage of this season to 
sow in our bosoms the seeds of departure from God, and 
then quiets our consciences by the plea that the evils were 
unavoidable. 

" 1. I mention an inattention to secret religious duties. 
The duties of the closet, such as reading, meditation, prayer, 
self-examination, are indispensably necessary to the welfare 
of the soul. Now a professor of religion starts off to spend 
the summer in travelling, or in the retirement of the country. 
In either case there is temptation to neglect these duties ; 
public conveyances hurry us along as if the object was to 
annihilate time and space ; public houses afford small accom- 
modation for reading, and meditation, and prayer. We start 
early in the morning and we travel till late at night ; all is 
hurry and bustle, and nothing is thought of except to accom- 
plish our wish.' Thus much as to travelling. If we are 
in the country, perhaps there are other persons with us 
of uncongenial dispositions and habits. We have small 
rooms, new occupations, and a variety of new engagements. 
I will venture to assert that there is not within the sound of 
my voice one solitary case of religious depression or declen- 
sion as connected with this subject, where the individual, if 
honest, will not confess that he or she had neglected reli- 
gious duties, especially those of a private character. Beside 
this, public duties are broken in upon ; there are not the 
same Sabbath privileges which there are at home ; and if 
there are, the heat and the want of conveyances are pleaded 
in excuse for neglecting them. All these, by a process just 
as natural as any which can be imagined, lead to depression • 
for just as well might we hope that our bodies should retain 
their vigor without food and exercise, as that our souls 
should flourish without that continued and intimate commu- 
nion with God which alone supplies them aliment. The 
vegetable creation will not thrive without light, neither will 
the seed of divine grace which may have been sown in our 



190 MEMOIR OF 

hearts grow without the light of God's countenance. This 
must be sought, else it will be withheld, and leave the soul 
to darkness and to doubt. This is one cause of religious 
depression in some, and declension in others. 

" 2. But, second ; to omission of duty many add actual 
sin. Forced by circumstances, as they say, many profes- 
sors of religion travel on the Sabbath, on the vain plea, that 
they shall commit as little sin by so doing, as by staying 
where they happen to be uncomfortably placed. Some are 
in large public establishments, and spend the day, not in 
their rooms, but in promiscuous company. Those who dp 
not travel, but who are in the country, are apt to spend the 
Sunday very idly, or else improperly ; neither going to 
Church, nor occupied in prayer and meditation. And be- 
side this, there are many professing Christians, who, in the 
country, are the actual cause of sin in others. For instance, 
a family in the country, a few miles from the city, has the 
father, or the brother, remaining behind. What then ? 
The wife and the relatives must be visited. Shall I leave 
my business ? asks the husband. Oh ! no, I can not spare 
time to see my family and friends during the week. When 
can I go % Ah ! there is Sunday ! It is no matter if I break 
God's law. I will go out on Saturday and stay till Monday. 
I shall gain two things by it ; I shall see my family and 
spend my time with ease and comfort, and I shall lose 
nothing, but rather save a day. Some ride out on Sunday 
morning, and in again in the evening, and spend the day 
without religion. Thus the man breaks the commandment 
of God ; the wife and the children are taught that the insti- 
tutions of public worship are mere matters of convenience ; 
duties are neglected ; God is insulted. Is it wonderful that 
God withdraws his presence from those thus tempting him? 
Is it not rather wonderful that he does not cast them off for 
ever ? 

" Now in the fall of the year, the travellers return from 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 191 

their tours, and those from the country to their homes ; the 
closet is sought, but it has been too much neglected to give 
pleasure now. Spiritual darkness overwhelms the soul, and 
in anguish the individual cries, c Oh ! that I were as in months 
past !' My friends, you bring this on yourselves. There 
is no necessity that you should neglect your duties of read- 
ing, meditation, prayer, self-examination ; because if travel- 
ling or being in the country bring the neglect of God and 
your souls as necessary appendages, then you had better 
never travel. You had better endure the heat of the city, 
than neglect God and ruin your own souls. But this was 
not necessary. You permit your enemy to get the advan- 
tage over you. You gradually become careless and indif- 
ferent. One duty gives way, then another ; one sin is com- 
mitted, then another ; and at length your conscience ceases 
to reprove. You then come back to the scenes of your usual 
religious associates, and conscience is at work, and then you 
discover the evil. This is the history of religious declension 
in some, and depression in others ; and this leads me, 

" II. To the remedy. If you must go into the country, 
or if you must travel, determine upon one thing before you 
go. God goes with you wherever you go. Set your face 
like a flint against sin ; determine to do nothing, and encour- 
age nothing, which you would not do and encourage at home. 
If you travel, where you reach on Sunday, stop ; if there is 
a place of worship, go to it. If not, go to your chamber, 
and spend the day with the best of company, your God. 
Carry your Bible with you ; think not to escape out of the 
presence of God ; mingle not with indiscriminate or light 
company ; give the day and give your heart to God. If 
you are in the country near to any place of worship, or to 
the city, go to it ; put yourself to some inconvenience ; if 
not, spend the day with God. Do not encourage your hus- 
band or relatives in ruining their souls to enjoy your com- 
pany. You thus become partakers of their sins, 



192 MEMOIR OF 

"There must be a positive determination made to set 
your face against any thing which will draw you from God, 
directly or indirectly. You must be on your guard, and 
determine that on no account whatever will you bring your- 
selves into the difficulty. But perhaps some may say. then 
we must never travel, and never go into the country ; we 
must stay and suffer in health ; it is impossible to do other- 
wise, there are so many disadvantages. Permit me. my 
dear friends, to say to you, in the honesty and simplicity of 
the Gospel, that if, in your individual case, these things are 
inseparable from your circumstances ; if you can not travel 
or go into the country without neglecting God and your 
souls, then it is your imperative duty never to travel, and 
never to go into the country. It can not possibly be your 
duty to ruin your souls. You had better stay in the heat 
of the city ; aye, if there should even be here the ' pestilence 
that walketh in darkness, and the sickness that destroyeth 
at noon-day.' Your children had better go to heaven before 
they have the guilt of actual sin on their souls ; every in- 
convenience had better be endured than that you should lose 
both soul and body in hell, and be the ruin of your children 
also. The great business of your lives, permit me to tell 
you, is to regard eternity, not time ; to see that you are 
prepared for death and judgment, rather than prepared for 
mere enjoyment. You know not when your Lord may 
come. For aught you can know to the contrary, you may 
be called away to judgment while far distant from your 
home ; or from the shades and delights of your summer 
residence, you may be summoned to give an account of your 
stewardship. And if this should take place while you are 
thus neglecting God, your settlement at the day of judgment 
will be terrible indeed. I say, and the reason of every one 
can not but respond to it, if you think travelling and country 
residence incompatible with precisely the same state of 
mind and exercises of heart as are indispensable at home. 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 193 

then your duty is to stay, and if the body perishes, the soul 
may be safe. But I do not believe these things incompa- 
tible. The situation is more difficult, it is true ; but because 
it is difficult, it ought to rouse new energies. God can be 
served, and yet the distant journey taken, or the country 
quiet resorted to. But it requires you to fight against your 
inward corruptions, and to resist your great and spiritual 
adversery. You must be decided against the world, and 
friends and relatives, if you would save your souls from 
neglect of God." 

To second his efforts in this public address, and still more 
personally and particularly to apply the admonitions which 
he had given, he placed in the hands of every member of 
the Church who was about leaving him under such circum- 
stances, the following circular, the effect of which was made 
by the divine blessing, most beneficial in many instances. 

" My Dear Friend : 

" You are about to take up your residence in the country 
for the summer season, or to spend the summer in travel- 
ling. Health, or recreation, or perhaps both, are the objects 
you have in view. As a professing Christian, you are about 
to be placed in a situation extremely dangerous to your 
spiritual welfare ; and as the pastor set over you in the 
Lord, I feel that my duty can only be discharged by giving 
you warning of your danger, and calling your attention to 
some points of duty. Suffer me, then, by the Christian af- 
fection which I bear you, to ask your attention to the follow- 
ing considerations : 

" if residing in the country, 
" 1. Never neglect your accustomed private duties of 
reading, meditation, self-examination, and prayer. 

" 2. Never fail to attend some place of worship on the 
9 



194 MEMOIR OF 

Lord's day, unless prevented by such circumstances as you 
are sure will excuse you in the eye of God. 

" 8. Never entertain invited company on the Lord's day, 
and pay no visits, unless to the sick and needy, as acts of 
benevolence. 

" 4. Never engage in any thing either on the Lord's or on 
any secular day which will compromise your Christian con- 
sistency. 

" 5. Seek to do good to the souls of your family, and all 
others within your reach. 

" 6. Always remember that you are to ' stand before the 
judgment-seat of Christ. 5 

"if travelling^ 

" 1. Never, on any plea whatever, travel on the Lord's 
day. 

" 2. Make your arrangements to stop, if possible, in some 
place where you can enjoy suitable religious privileges. 

" 8. If at a public house or watering-place on the Lord's 
day, do not mingle with indiscriminate company. Keep your 
own room as much as possible, and be engaged in such a 
way as may make the day profitable to your souls, and 
honorable to your God. 

" 4. Every day find or make time for your private duties 
of reading, meditation, self-examination, and prayer. 

" 5. Carry tracts and good books with you, to read, dis- 
tribute, or to lend, according to circumstances. 

"6. Seek for opportunities to do good to the souls of 
those into whose society you may fall. 

" 7. Never, by deed or conversation, appear to be ashamed 
of your religious profession. 

" 8. Eemember you are to ' stand before the judgment- 
seat of Christ.' 

" Let me entreat you to read these items of advice over 
and over again, and recur to them in every time of tempta- 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 195 

tion. They are the affectionate warnings of one who knows 
the danger of your situation, and whose i heart's desire and 
prayer to God' it is, that you may maintain your Christian 
integrity, honor God, live in obedience to his will, and 
enjoy the peace which can alone spring from a 4 conscience 
void of offense,' 'because the love of God is shed abroad 
in the heart.' 

" If neither a sense of duty, nor this affectionate appeal, 
can hinder you from sinning against God and your own 
soul, this pastoral letter will be my testimony when we 
stand together at the bar of God, that I have warned you of 
your danger, and am guiltless of your blood. 

• "Most truly, your Friend and Pastor." 

I have never on any occasion witnessed a more interest- 
ing and melting scene than when these circulars were deliv- 
ered to his people in the last summer of his life, June, 1834. 
He was lying upon the sofa in the vestry-room after the 
services of the morning were concluded, exhausted and pale. 
He had preached with unusual power and feeling. It was 
the last sermon I ever heard from him. The day is thus 
described by one of the members of his church : 

"Sunday, June 15. 
" Our dear pastor, having returned for a day from the 
country, notwithstanding his greatly enfeebled health, 
preached twice. In the morning from 2d Corinthians, v. 1, 
' For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle 
were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not 
made with hands, eternal in the heavens.' He stated that 
we have here first the confident hope of the Christian ; and 
second, the ground of that confidence. The simple ground 
of confidence he declared to be the promise of God, and the 
eternal inheritance perfectly sure to him who believes. He 
then inquired, Do we believe ? enforcing the enjoyment of 



196 MEMOIR OF 

an assured hope as the privilege and duty of every Christian. 
Oh ! what a sermon was before us, in the pallid face, deathlike 
countenance, and sometimes tremulous voice, of him who 
thus addressed us !" 

Those of his congregation who were about leaving the 
city, gathered around him after service, as he lay unable to 
rise and welcome them, and he addressed to each of them 
separately a few low words of affectionate parting counsel. 
They all appeared to part with him in the fear that they 
should see his face no more, and none left him without 
tears. I could not but realize how precious was the bond 
that had united these children of his ministry to him, and 
how happy the condition, even in his earthly connections, 
of a man who had been so made a blessing of God to the 
souls of his people. I parted with him then also myself, 
and saw him no more, until I was called to perform the sad 
office of committing his body to the earth. Oh ! that the 
ministry and the departure of his brethren in the Church 
may be all like his ! 

The failure of his own health required him in several of 
the last years of his life to be absent from the city during 
some of the summer months. But wherever he was, his 
interest in the welfare of his beloved people could not be 
diminished. And when unable to address them personally, 
he communicated to them his views and wishes through 
short pastoral letters, which were always welcomed by them 
as messages of peculiar importance and interest. The fol- 
lowing was addressed to them from the country, in the 
summer of 1832, to be read on a day of public humiliation 
and prayer, appointed by the civil authority in relation to that 
dreaded pestilence, the cholera, which made its appearance 
on this continent during that season, and carried thousands 
of unprepared souls to an awful eternity. 



rev. dr. bedell. 197 

" Dearly Beloved Brethren : 

" Had the proclamation of the Governor been received 
previous to my arrangements for my usual summer journey, 
I should have been with you to-day to mingle my own with 
your supplications at a throne of grace and mercy. It 
grieves me to be obliged to be absent from you in a time 
like the present ; but were I in the city I should be unable 
to perform any of the duties of the parish, as you are aware 
that for several years last past I have been for the most part 
disabled during the month of August and most of Sep- 
tember, from the full discharge of duties, either by positive 
illness or extreme debility, and forced to spend that portion 
of the time in travelling for health. I can not, however, 
permit the present day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer, 
to pass over without offering you a few words of advice and 
exhortation, as the pastor set over you in the Lord. As it 
regards the most of you, indeed I may say all, I have very 
little fear as to your immediate exposure to the attack of 
the pestilence which has now appeared in our beloved city, 
for I am aware that our congregation is composed of those 
whose habits of life, humanly speaking, render them less 
liable to attack. I say this not to arrest any salutary alarm 
which may be on your minds, but to prevent unnecessary 
fear. Maintain those habits of temperance and regularity 
of living which have hitherto characterized you, and be 
much engaged in works of charity and mercy, and you may 
reasonably hope to be exempt from a disease which experi- 
ence shows to have, as a general rule, selected its victims 
from among those whose habits of life have not been in 
accordance with the rules of Gospel sobriety. To this there 
have been exceptions, but I pray God that the exceptions 
may not fall among my beloved people. Let the course of 
Divine Providence, however, be what it may, there is one 
method of disarming the pestilence of the terrors with which 
it is otherwise invested. Let those among you who have a 



198 MEMOIR OF 

good hope through grace, that your sins are pardoned and 
yourselves accepted in the Lord Jesus, be 'diligent that ye 
be found of him without spot and blameless.' See that ye 
grow in grace, and that, especially in this season, ye be 
much engaged in prayer, that the Lord will look upon our 
city in mercy, and stay the hand of his righteous judgments. 
Be ye active in the discharge of Christian duties, and keep- 
ing a firm confidence in Him whom you have taken as your 
Saviour, do your duty to your fellow-men. If under these 
circumstances the arrows of the destroyer shall fall on any 
of you, you would only realize the truth of the declaration, 

1 Death's but the servant Jesus sends 
To call you to his arms.' 

" But there are some of you, my dearly beloved brethren, 
concerning whom I have great sorrow in my heart. I mean 
those to whom I have so many years preached the Gospel, 
and who as yet have refused to receive its offers of mercy 
to the salvation of their souls. Let me beseech you to listen 
to the voice of God, now that his voice speaks to you under 
circumstances of so much solemnity as the present. There 
are those, among you who may be cut off in your sins ; and 
let me press on you the solemn inquiry of the Apostle — 'If 
the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and 
the sinner appear V Take warning, I entreat you, and now 
in the time of this visitation of judgment, * take heed to the 
things which concern your everlasting peace, ere they be for 
ever hidden from your eyes.' This exhortation is always 
appropriate, but more particularly so at the present time, 
when death comes as a thief in the night, and leaves no time 
or opportunity to make your peace with God. I have no 
pressing solicitude as to any of you except those who are in 
the condition last described ; but for you I feel much, lest 
any of you should be called to your solemn account of judg- 
ment before you have by faith secured that interest in the 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 199 

Lord Jesus Christ, which alone can enable you to render 
that account with joy, and not with grief. Let me again and 
again beseech you to repent and return to the Lord, and to 
works meet for repentance ; and then should God's visita- 
tion reach you personally, it would only prostrate your 
bodies in the dust, but leave your souls safe in the sure sal- 
vation of the Lord Jesus. Let me beg of you to give heed 
to these lines from one who has now for nine years addressed 
you, and who, though compelled by reason of his own pre- 
carious health to be absent, still desires to present to your 
consideration, even through the imperfect medium of a let- 
ter, the calls and the offers of the Gospel. 

" To all of you who, in the midst of the pestilence that 
walketh in darkness, and the sickness that destroyeth at 
the noon-day, are yet privileged to meet together for prayer 
and supplication, let me urge the necessity of a deep and 
heartfelt humility in the sight of God. ' Rend your hearts, 
and turn unto the Lord your God, for he is gracious and 
merciful, long-suffering, and of great goodness, and repent- 
eth him of the evil,' peradventure he will hear and leave a 
blessing in answer to your prayers. Wherever the provi- 
dence of God may find me on the day you assemble, I shall 
strive to be with you in spirit, though not in bodily pre- 
sence ; and under any circumstances shall «not fail t© pray 
for you, that the Lord may keep you safely; and that 
though thousands fall beside you, and ten thousand at your 
right hand, no plague may come nigh you or your dwell- 
ings. And I trust that in your prayers and supplications 
you will not fail to remember him who needs the benefit of 
your most ardent and persevering prayers, both for his 
bodily and spiritual health. 

u Through the medium of my friend and assistant, to 
whose discretion I have intrusted that portion of the con- 
cerns of our Church which fall to my lot, I shall frequently 
hear of your welfare. May the Lord be with him and you, 



200 MEMOIR OF 

and may the Holy Spirit so sanctify this afflictive dispensa- 
tion to us all, that our souls may reap the intended benefit, 
"both in time and throughout eternity. 

" I remain, dearly beloved Brethren, 

" Your Friend and Pastor." 

One of the most difficult duties of the private friend, or 
the Christian pastor, is the administration of necessary 
reproof to those who err. Dr. Bedell was especially calcu- 
lated, from the very peculiar delicacy and sensitiveness of 
his character and temperament, to feel this difficulty deeply, 
and to shrink from the proper discharge of the duty. But 
the spirit of love by which he was governed, and the full 
and sincere consecration of himself to the duties of the min- 
istry, sustained him in this also, and enabled him to exercise 
this office with fidelity. The letter below, a copy of which 
was sent to individuals among his people, as occasion 
required, presents a singular and beautiful illustration of 
the delicacy with which this painful duty was discharged by 
him, and the way in which he used, with experience and 
skill, " the sword of the Spirit," which is the word of God, 
in contending with difficulties which arose around him. 

" (private.) 
" My Dear Friend : 

"Among the duties of the ministry laid down in the Scrip- 
tures, I find the following, ' to reprove, rebuke, exhort with 
all long-suffering and doctrine.' I have frequently found, 
that a hint given in a spirit of love has been effectual to 
remove an error or to rectify an abuse ; and that such a 
hint, if given in Scripture language, carries with it peculiar 
weight : I purpose to adopt this plan. Sometimes I wish to 
rebuke, sometimes to commend. I shall do both without 
offense, if I do them in the words of God. To illustrate my 
meaning : If I send this letter to one of my communicants, 



KEV. DR. BEDELL. 201 

and simply quote at the bottom Luke 10 : 41, 42, I mean 
that one to understand that I think him or her neglecting the 
soul for worldly concerns. If I quote Hebrews 10 : 23-25, 
it will be understood that I think the individual to whom 
it is sent negligent in attendance at the lectures or prayer- 
meetings. If I quote 2 Corinthians 6 : 17, it will be under- 
stood that I consider the person addressed entirely too much 
disposed to enter into follies and amusements inconsistent 
with the Christian calling. If I quote 1 Peter 3 : 3, 4, it 
will be understood that I allude to dress, etc. If I , quote 
Proverbs 16 : 32, it will be understood that I consider the 
individual under the influence of an improper spirit. These 
I mean as mere specimens for explanation, and will be suffi- 
cient to show my meaning. The passage I mean for you 
may be different from any of these, and you will see it at 
the bottom of the page. I pray you to turn to it at once ; 
ascertain what I mean, pray over it, and see if the hint thus 
affectionately given, may not, by a divine blessing, conduce 
to your spiritual and eternal good. No one knows that I 
have addressed this letter to you. It is meant as entirely 
of a private character. May the Lord bless you, and keep 
you by his grace, through faith unto salvation. 

" Your Friend and Pastor." 

But his decision and boldness in reproving and warning 
were in no degree less manifest than his skill. This will be 
evident from the following letter addressed to a member of 
his church, whom he considered as a backslider : 

" My Dear Friend : 

" Had I this morning received the melancholy intelligence 
of the death of some near relative, it could not prove so 
oppressive to my feelings as something which I have this 
moment heard in relation to yourself, and something which 
I can scarcely yet bring myself to believe. Can it be possi- 
9* 



202 MEMOIR OF 

ble, that you suffer yourself to be enticed to the theatre 1 
and is it possible that you have permitted a ball at your 
house, and on an evening too, when I had been accustomed 
to see you in the house of God ? 

" I did not believe these things, because you fully knew 
my views on all these matters, and as far as my recollection 
serves, always agreed with me in their being utterly incon- 
sistent with the true Christian profession. And I was still 
less inclined to believe these things, because it was only 
lately that you voluntarily mentioned your dislike even of 
the character that your musical parties had assumed. 

" It is utterly impossible for me to tell you the sorrow 
which overpresses my heart on the reception of this informa- 
tion — sorrow on my own account, for I am selfish in my 
grief, because there is not an individual upon whom my con- 
fidence has been more fully placed ; sorrow on your account, 
for how can these things be without an abandonment of 
Christ, and the prospect of eternal ruin as the consequence ? 
— sorrow on account of religion ; for oh ! how many will 
stumble and fall over this l stumbling-block !' If I could 
deny the truth of the information, I would most willingly 
do it with tears, and even write it in my own blood. I 
know perfectly well that there may be such things as family 
obstacles in the way of a pleasant discharge of duty. But 
it is impossible that any thing should offer an excuse for the 
departure from the line of Christian duty. He that loveth 
father or mother, wife or children, more than Christ, can not 
be his disciple ; and it is a Christian's duty at all hazards, 
to rule his household after the precepts of the Lord. Oh ! 
let me beg of you, my dear friend, to retrace those wander- 
ing footsteps — to repent of this departure, and in the deep- 
est humility to seek the pardon of the Lord, and grace to 
be a decided Christian. If you are not willing to be on the 
Lord's side, I pray you for your soul's sake, do not add to 
a worldly course the great condemnation of a Christian pro- 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 203 

fession. Give up the one or the other. The most danger- 
ous of all states is an attempt to unite the two. Oh! that I 
could hear you say, 4 1 will arise and go to my Father.' 
For this I will pray, for who in this world do I love better, 
my friend and my benefactor ? 

" I hope I have not hurt your feelings. As a minister of 
God, under whose instrumentality you made a profession 
of religion, I have only discharged my duty, and discharged 
it faithfully, because I am more attached to you than to any 
other. If you can not purpose to adorn the doctrine of 
Christ by a consistent profession, God give me grace to 
mourn as one who mourns for the dead. 

" Your afflicted Friend, 

" G. T. Bedell." 

The following pastoral letter, addressed to the congrega- 
tion, will show the fidelity of his watchfulness as a shepherd 
of the flock, under another aspect. Whatever was the diffi- 
culty before him, he had no fear in meeting it, and was able 
always, with " an open face," and a sincere and affectionate 
spirit, to go through the emergencies of trial to which he 
was called. The circumstances attending the present letter 
will be sufficiently explained in itself. 

" Dearly Beloved Brethren : 

" It is probable the most of you are aware that it will not 
be in my power to attend to the usual evening services of 
our church until the weather shall become more moderate 
and settled. Having suffered much this season from expo- 
sure to the night air, in consequence of the peculiar severity 
of the winter, my physician, in whose judgment I place 
implicit confidence, has thought it best that I should not 
attempt my customary duties on Friday evenings, until I 
can do it with more probable safety to myself. To this 
arrangement I submit, because I feel that my own most 



204 MEMOIR OF 

earnest desires are not to be put in competition with the 
medical advice formed on mature deliberation. God be 
praised, I feel that my health is very materially improved 
from what it was three weeks ago, and I rejoice in the pros- 
pect of not being prevented from discharging my duties on 
the Lord's day. 

" When I found that I should be compelled to relinquish 
the idea of lecturing for the space of at least five or six 
weeks, my mind became painfully exercised as to what was 
the course of my duty in relation to the Friday-evening lec- 
ture. I regret to be compelled to say that I felt as if it 
might be my duty to close the lectures, because I did fear 
that the attendance might be so diminished as to be observed 
by those who would kindly assist me in the period of my 
absence. On mature reflection, however, I came to the con- 
clusion, that let those who were accustomed to attend, take 
what course they might, it was my obvious duty not to close 
up the opportunity of religious instruction. The intention 
of this pastoral letter is to express my opinion on a subject 
which has never ceased to give uneasiness to my mind, 
namely, the unchristian disposition manifested by many to 
forsake the instruction of the Lord's house whenever the 
preacher may not be one who in all respects may gratify 
their tastes. This is an unwholesome state of feeling winch 
I have long known to exist among ourselves to a considera- 
ble extent, and which can not be too strongly reprobated as 
inconsistent with a right state of feeling toward the worship 
and the word of God. Where the minister who preaches is 
known, and believed to preach the truth as it is in Jesus, 
there is no excuse which can justify a feeling of dislike to 
his ministrations. It is a direct and positive proof of the 
want of a sound spiritual state. Under no circumstances, 
unless the character of the minister be such as may not be 
approved, or unless he is not believed to deliver the mes- 
sage of the Gospel in simplicity and godly sincerity, is it 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 205 

justifiable to feel a disrelish to his ministrations ? And 
though it is natural, and can not be avoided, to be more 
gratified with one than with another, yet wherever providen- 
tial circumstances place a minister before the people, rever- 
ence for the word of God ought to insure him a respectful 
attention. 

*• I have felt these tilings most painfully, because I have 
seen and known many who will not attend either on Sun- 
days or at the lectures, unless they are first assured who is 
to be the preacher. This is peculiarly distressing to myself, 
because, when any of my brethren in the ministry assist 
me, it is purely because they desire to render me the aid 
which my health requires ; and what ought to give me more 
pain than the reflection that my own people are not willing 
to appreciate the services done from the spirit of kindness 
to their own minister I 

" I am happy to say, that both in relation to the services 
on Sundays, and in relation to these lectures, there has been 
a manifest improvement, and apparently a much better state 
of feeling than formerly existed. And I do not write these 
things so much to complain of what at present exists, as I 
do to caution you on a subject which I fear is not as much 
thought of as it should be. Especially by those accustomed 
to attend the lectures, and still more particularly by those 
who are the professing members of this church, I expect a 
course of conduct conformable to the Gospel. Let them be 
in their places just as if I was to be there ; let them give 
heed to the message just as if I had been so highly privileged 
as to deliver it. It is in this way alone that a blessing can 
be expected ; and I hardly need to say that it is in this way 
alone that my feelings can be gratified. Let me but see that 
the services of my dear brethren who kindly assist me are 
duly appreciated, and I shall then take pleasure in address- 
ing you, when in the mercy of God I may again be permit- 
ted to resume the lectures myself; but it will be with pain 



206 MEMOIR OF 

that I shall come back, if I find that the attendance in the 

mean time has been much depreciated. 

" It is my anxious desire for your spiritual welfare, breth- 
ren, that has induced me to touch, even lightly as I have, 
on this subject. But I do wish my beloved people under all 
circumstances to love and honor the Gospel for the Gospel's 
sake, and to feel that they are highly distinguished by God 
in being at all permitted to hear the Gospel in its purity ; 
and let me beseech you all to seek to profit by that preach- 
ing, and earnestly to take heed to the things which you hear, 
lest at any time you should let them slip. "Whether it is I. 
your minister set over you in the Lord, or whether it is any 
one of my brethren whose good will to me has induced them 
to consent to this duty, who addresses you, oh ! let the Gos- 
pel be mixed with faith, so that instead of being a savor of 
death unto death, it may be a savor of life unto life. Too 
long have very many of you neglected the things which con- 
cern your everlasting peace ; too long have you misused the 
mercies of God ; too long have you trampled under foot the 
love of a Saviour. I pray you cease from these things and 
return unto the Lord. In this your day of merciful visita- 
tion, he stands ready to receive you, and pardon your sins, 
and forgive you freely. May the Lord have you in his holy 
keeping ; may he lift up the light of his countenance upon 
you, and give you peace here and happiness hereafter, is the 
prayer, through Jesus Christ, of 

" Your affectionate Friend and Pastor." 

No one could feel more deeply the importance for a pastor, 
of cultivating habits of frequent and affectionate intercourse 
with the people of his charge. In connection with all the 
instruments of good to which we have already referred, he 
considered habitual visiting among them as the best method, 
not only of obtaining a correct view of their peculiar charac- 
ters, circumstances, and feelings, but also of discharging the 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 207 

obligations of an efficient teacher and a watchful shepherd. 
His habit of personal visiting was necessarily very much 
affected by the. decline of his health. But as long as he was 
at all able to fulfill this part of his duty, it was one in which 
he took great delight, and in which he was especially useful. 
He adopted various methods in the performance of pastoral 
visits, that he might secure a regular and proper portion of 
attention to every family, He kept an alphabetical register 
of the congregation, and marked under its proper date every 
visit which was made to each family, and made proper notes 
to guide him in the use of any circumstances of an interest- 
ing character which occurred in his connection with indi- 
vidual families. If there was any appearance of serious 
inquiry or attention in any family among those who had not 
given themselves up to the Lord, an early day was appointed 
for the repetition of his visit. He watched all indications 
of good, and tried to take advantage of them all. His 
general object was to accomplish three visits in each year 
to every family, beside his occasional visits to the sick and 
the afflicted. This extent of duty, however, the increase of 
his congregation, and the failure of his own health, for 
some years previous to his death, placed quite beyond his 
power. 

Until the decline of his health rendered the night air preju- 
dicial and dangerous, he often made evening pastoral visits 
upon the following plan. The family at whose house he had 
appointed to be on the designated evening, invited such of 
their friends as they thought proper, and when joined by 
their pastor and his family, the evening was passed in con- 
versation upon religious subjects and duties, calculated to 
bring to view personal difficulties and interests, and was 
closed with the reading and exposition of the Scriptures 
and with prayer. These pastoral visits were characterized 
by the manner in which he received his friends at his own 
house. Religion was there always the prominent subject. 



208 MEMOIR OF 

while his simplicity, and cheerfulness, and ease of manners 
made it always a welcome and interesting subject. The 
benefit and gratification which was derived from these visits 
made the reluctance at separating, when the proper hour 
had arrived, entirely mutual. 

In his visits to the sick and afflicted, the meekness and 
solemnity of his deportment, united with the spirituality, and 
experience, and knowledge of religious truth exhibited in 
his conversation, secured the deepest attention and interest, 
and made him a uniform instrument of good in the hands 
of God. The most obdurate hearts were subdued, and some- 
times whole families were blessed by the grace of God under 
his peculiarly excellent ministrations. On one occasion, 
when he was visiting one of the members of his charge in 
sickness, this fact was particularly illustrated. The family 
with whom this person resided, and who were not professors 
of religion, were, at the request of the sick man, invited to 
be present. The disease of this person was considered 
incurable, and the scene was well calculated to awaken and 
impress even the most thoughtless and indifferent. One 
among the family, who had been a long time the subject of 
disease, and who was confined to her room, refused at first 
to be carried into the other room. Her mind had been 
much prejudiced against this minister of the Lord, and the 
strictness of religious course and character which he incul- 
cated. But after much solicitation she yielded ; and having 
been thus an eye-witness, as she afterward said, of the 
gentleness and holiness of his manner, and of the peaceful 
and attractive serenity of such a chamber of death, she 
expressed an earnest desire to have an interview with the 
pastor on her own account. He placed before her a simple 
view of the plan of salvation, and, through the blessing of 
God, she was enabled clearly to understand the system of 
the Gospel, and to embrace it as her hope. She shortly 
died in the consolation and triumph of faith, and for her few 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 209 

remaining days she ceased not to bless God, who had sent 
to her aid such a guide in the ways of eternal life. The 
good which was thus begun in this family continued under 
his ministrations until every member of it, varying in age 
from seventeen to eighty years, was rejoicing in God the 
Saviour. 

These instances of his usefulness in his private ministry 
are in no degree peculiar. Such as he appeared on these 
occasions he always was. Habitually anxious to do good, 
he lost no opportunity to proclaim the riches of a Saviour's 
mercy to the perishing children of men. The following 
instances, communicated by a member of his church, will 
illustrate this prevailing spirit : 

" His simplicity was striking, as it is in all the truly 
great — it was a childlike simplicity, which, blended as it 
was with dignity, kindness, and unobtrusive solicitude for 
the welfare of his fellow-men, was well calculated to inspire 
the beholder with feelings of reverence and admiration, 
knowing they were the companions of deep practical piety, 
which was evinced first, by his humility, and secondly, his 
self-denial. I well remember an instance of the latter. It 
was the first season the cholera made its appearance in the 
United States ; every one near us seemed filled with alarm, 
quite different from their former deportment ; but in him you 
could observe not the slightest change, either in tone or man- 
ner ; before this he had seemed more solemn than those who 
were about him ; now they were more solemn than he was. 
I presume he long lived as with eternity just opening before 
him, and this to others alarming messenger to the grave, 
gave him no sensation so new as to change his calmness to 
fear or affright, notwithstanding he was in peculiarly trying 
circumstances. His only son was at the Flushing Institute ; 
all communication was entirely interdicted between New- 
York and Philadelphia, and thus his return to his family at 



210 MEMOIR OF 

this trying season was impossible. Dr. Bedell had just 
learned all these particulars, the existence of the plague and 
the impracticability of having his son with him, etc. ; yet 
he left all. not even once so much as alluding to his own 
concerns, and devoted himself to counsel and support others 
who needed his direction ; yes, he meekly sat with us in 
affliction, appearing not even to think of himself or his 
child until we came to a satisfactory decision relative to our 
affairs . 

* * * "One evening I had been conversing with a friend 
while Dr. B. was present ; we only parted for family prayers. 
Dr. B. led family worship ; it was almost incredible 
that he and my friend should have had no conversation to- 
gether previous to worship, for his lecture on one of the 
Psalms was so strangely in connection — "Persevere, confess 
your sins to God, go to the foot of the cross." This was 
the substance of his exhortation. My friend remarked this 
wonderful similarity, saying, the good Spirit put it into his 
mind, the Lord saw our little meeting — (I was then under 
deep exercise of mind, but I think not a converted Christ- 
ian) — it really seemed as if he might have been present and 
heard every word which we had spoken, and just have gone 
on from where we left off. But no one but God the Spirit, 
had influenced his mind. The hymn, at least, I really 
thought my friend handed him, but she had not. 

* * * « Q n ano ther occasion, Dr. Bedell came and sat about 
two hours. The day before I had been told it was impossi- 
ble for him to come ; and how did he come ! He then had 
a blister on his breast, and had had seven, since he had seen 
us ! "What a state of health ! and thus he labored ; but he 
has 'entered into rest.' How glorious the repose for a 
Christian soldier after such warfare ! What are we sowing, 
and how ? is it good seed ? and do we sow it ' sparingly,' or 
do we sow it 'plentifully? May we be enabled to work 
while it is day ! We have but a winter day — short, dark and 



REV. DR. BEDELL, 211 

fleeting — in this cold land of our pilgrimage. But I have di- 
gressed ; I was led away by my feelings. During the above- 
mentioned visit, our conversation was principally on the 
communion. One of his observations was, i If a root of 
bitterness remained in the heart, he thought there was room 
to fear for the state of that soul.' Some one told him we 
were his chickens : he sweetly laughed and replied, - I only 
hope I shall be able to feed you.' Left us Bickersteth on 
the Lord's Supper to read. 

* * * « j once too k tea at j) r ^ B e d e il' s . ] ie bad family ser- 
vice ; he was very sick ; his little daughter stood by him 
and read a portion of Scripture aloud. He prayed ; and oh ! 
when he said, as if for his own soul, i Not for any works of 
righteousness which we have done,' I thought if such an one 
could exclaim, ' Not for any works of righteousness,' etc., 
what should be the cry of thousands of professing Christians, 
professors of the same Christianity, and blessed (or cursed, 
it may be, if they abuse the talent) with bodily health far 
different from his." 



212 MEMOIR OF 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Pastoral Character — Prayer-Meeting — Revivals of Religion — Regularity 
in Services. 

The pastoral character of Dr. Bedell was exhibited in sc 
many varied attributes of excellence, that I feel myself 
called upon to dwell upon it with much minuteness. A more 
valuable model of ministerial fidelity and wisdom can hardly 
be presented by the history of the Church. Beside the 
various characteristics of his ministry already exhibited, 
others equally valuable remain to be noticed. One very 
important and influential department of his pastoral duty 
was the establishment of frequent religious meetings during 
the week ; both those which regularly occurred for social 
prayer and improvement in every week, and those which 
were occasional and connected with the changing seasons of 
the year, and the circumstances of his congregation. He 
appointed a regular lecture on Friday evening of each week, 
which for some years was held in the lecture-room belong- 
ing to the Church, but afterward, in consequence of the 
increase of attendance, entirely beyond the capacity of the 
room, was transferred to the church. These lectures were 
generally familiar expositions of Scripture, especially adapted 
to the cultivation of Christian character in those who had 
professed themselves to be the followers of the Saviour, 
presuming that the larger portion of the congregation 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 213 

assembled upon such occasions was composed of this descrip- 
tion of hearers. He had great facility in a simple style of 
extemporaneous speaking, and probably none of his services 
were more interesting or instructive to the serious portion 
of his audience than these informal lectures. They furnished 
occasions too, by which many persons who were not statedly 
under his ministry, gained a knowledge of the truth ; and 
many souls are the seals of his apostleship, both as members 
of the Church to which his life was especially devoted, and 
of others also, who received their first valuable religious 
impressions and instruction by being induced to attend this 
Friday-evening service at St. Andrew's Church. On Satur- 
day evening of every week there was a social meeting for 
prayer among the members of the church, which he attended 
as frequently as his health and other duties would allow. 
His heart was much devoted to the encouragement of the 
spirit and habit of prayer among his people. During the 
season of Lent a prayer-meeting was held every day, some- 
times, when the season would permit it with convenience, at 
six o'clock in the morning, and at others in the afternoon. 
Every Friday in Lent was set apart as a special season of 
fasting and prayer, when, during some seasons, a large por- 
tion of the members of the church were assembled three 
several times in the day for the worship of God. From 
these seasons the richest blessings have flowed to the con- 
gregation, and numbers, as the divine answer to the prayers 
of the people of God, have been brought from darkness to 
his marvellous light. Beside these occasions there was 
observed a monthly prayer-meeting in connection with the 
great cause of Christian missions, and also frequent meetings 
of the Sunday-school teachers, Bible-classes, and religious 
societies of the Church. Nearly every day in the year 
there was some religious meeting in connection with St. 
Andrew's Church. This was an important item in the 
ministry of Dr. Bedell. He begun, continued, and ended 



214 MEMOIR OF 

every effort in prayer. His views of the importance of 
meetings for prayer among the members of his church were 
well known, and very decided. They characterized his whole 
habit of ministry in connection with St. Andrew's Church. 
Very often on Sunday, after the regular services of the day 
were concluded, he invited the members of the church to a 
meeting for prayer in the vestry-room, for a blessing upon 
the labors of the day. The prominence which he gave to 
these views has been already remarkably displayed in the 
fact related of their plain and fearless introduction in an 
address at a meeting in Christ Church, Philadelphia, for the 
formation of a Prayer-Book Society, at which the venerable 
Bishop White presided, and most of the clergy of the city 
were present. To this fact there is given a peculiar interest, 
from its having been his last anniversary address, but a few 
months before his death, and after his health had been pro- 
claimed by his physician to be verging to the close of life, 
and of course the final and deliberate conclusion of his 
extensive and experienced ministry. He was perfectly 
aware of the exceptions which were made to this part of 
his ministry, as countenancing irregularities in the church. 
But while he was satisfied of the groundless character of 
the charge, it altered not his own views, or purpose, or 
course. And the manifest blessing which has rested upon 
his efforts to do good among the people of his charge, will 
show, that however men might in some cases think proper 
to condemn, God has been pleased to accept and approve. 

In the following extract from a letter to some friends in 
England, he alludes to an affecting instance of what he 
deemed to be the result of the united prayers of his people : 

"In your former letter you allude to the illness with which 
I was seized, just before your departure from America. 
Indeed, I never had an attack which prostrated me so much 
as that. The Lord in mercy brought me through, and ever 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 215 

since niy health has been considerably better. To his 
gracious name be all the praise. It will be interesting to 
you to learn, that during the whole of that sickness my 
dear pious people met together to pray for me, and on Good 
Friday, connected with all the other solemnities of that 
solemn day, were engaged from eight o'clock in the morning 
until six in the evening, having never left the room in which 
they had assembled, except for the public service. At five 
o'clock that afternoon the crisis of my disease was passed. 
Dr. M., when he came in, pronounced the change decidedly 
for the better. At that hour of prayer and supplication the 
fever left me, and from that time I speedily recovered. I 
take it at the hand of God as an answer to the prayers of 
his own people. May I pray for them, and labor for them, 
while prayer and labor are yet within my reach. I have a 
blessed company of God's people about me, to hold up my 
hands, I trust I can say of the most of our communicants, 
from all that can be judged, they are of ' such as shall be 
saved.' " 

The subject of prayer-meetings and social weekly reli- 
gious services ought not to be passed over in this biogra- 
phy without expressing unfeigned thankfulness at the change 
which God has wrought in the minds of many in regard to 
it. The principles which marked the ministry of Dr. Bedell 
in this respect have been now extended far and wide in the 
Episcopal Church. The minister who is without what used 
to be called, by way of contempt, "night-meetings," is now 
an exception to the rule which governs in the practice of 
the Church. The " Lecture-Room" is considered throughout 
our bonders a most desirable, nay, an almost indispensable 
appendage to the consecrated house of God. Every year 
is adding to the extension of these blessed evidences and 
instruments of good in our Sion, and every year is accord- 
ingly witnessing the increase of true and effectual piety 



216 MEMOIR OF 

among our people. When Dr. Bedell's ministry commenced 
in Philadelphia, he had few brethren in the ministry to 
cooperate in what were then considered irregularities in the 
Church. In one of his sermons he thus refers to, and answers 
a difficulty which he found thrown in his way. 

" Where grace reigns in lively exercise, there is nothing 
so delightful as the privilege of social worship. The lively 
Christian loves every opportunity of prayer, whether it be 
the small circle of the prayer-meeting, or the weekly lecture, 
or the more stately and well-ordered devotions of the conse- 
crated sanctuary ; and there are few circumstances which 
can keep him from availing himself of all these helps and 
privileges. But lukewarmness lays its cold hand on all these 
things. By some, for instance, the social prayer-meeting is 
objected to, because they say that it is not orthodox ; the 
Church disallows it ; it is a nursery for spiritual pride. Now 
as a matter of vindication, I have only to say that the 
Church says no such thing, however some may have thus 
represented. Several of the most spiritual and devoted 
Bishops which we have in this country are the warm and 
decided advocates of these exercises. One of these Bishops 
has written largely upon this subject ; and in relation to 
another I can say, from personal knowledge, that on one visit 
made by myself, I attended eleven of tins kind of meetings 
in the space of a fortnight. So much on the subject of their 
regularity and orthodoxy. But here is the true secret, in 
the great majority of instances, 8 because thou art luke- 
warm. 5 Let me not be misunderstood. I grant that there 
are many persons who do really and conscientiously believe 
that they can not profitably encourage them : yet as to the 
majority of cases, where objections are made to prayer- 
meetings, it is because lukewarmness has clothed herself in 
the mistaken garb of orthodoxy and regularity." 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 217 

But the difficulty here referred to now hardly exists among 
us. The concession is universal, that services of a less for- 
mal character than the public services of the Lord's-day are 
indispensable to the maintenance of the spirit and dominion 
of true piety. Upon this subject controversy has ceased 
among us, and Judah no longer vexes Ephraim. In a 
ministry now not a short one, in the same city in which 
Dr. Bedell labored, I am bound to bear my testimony, that 
I have never met with nor heard of an objection to the dis- 
charge of my duties upon such principles as seem to me to 
be most expedient — while I have witnessed " night-meeungs" 
of some description, for religious services and the promo- 
tion of piety, established and encouraged by every clergy- 
man and in every congregation of the Episcopal Church in 
this city. How glorious and delightful is the progress of 
truth and peace among us ! The Episcopal Church is seen 
united in all her borders — her ministers laboring to preach 
Christ the wisdom of God and the power of God unto sal- 
vation for man — encouraging each other in the work com- 
mitted to them, and all conceding to all the liberty of fulfill- 
ing the ministry which they have received according to their 
views of right and duty, in the full and affectionate con- 
formity which all have promised, c; to the doctrine, discipline, 
and worship of the Church." Happy are we in such a case ! 
May God be praised for the blessing, and continue the 
unspeakable benefit to us and our heirs for ever ! 

In connection with this subject may be also related the 
continued earnestness of Dr. Bedell for the increase and 
revival of true piety in his church, and the frequency and 
extent in which the church was blessed with precious seasons 
of refreshing from the presence of God. While he was the 
rector of St. Andrew^s Church there were several of those 
blessed outpourings of the Spirit of God, with which bhe 
American churches have been so frequently favored, und^:- 
which many souls together were awakened from sin. and 

10 



218 MEMOIR OF 

brought to a knowledge and acceptance of forgiveness in the 
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, These seasons of revival, 
it may be remarked, generally followed the weeks of Lent, 
which had been passed, as we have seen, by this people in 
habitual prayer. His eager desire for the conversion of his 
hearers kept him ever upon the watch for any promising 
indications among them, of special attention to the great 
concerns of their souls. He marked the first manifestation 
of peculiar seriousness and interest, and welcomed it as the 
dawn of glorious light. He immediately called together, in 
a separate and stated meeting for prayer and religious con- 
versation, all whose minds were seriously impressed with a 
view of their own dangers and wants ; and like a faithful 
shepherd, having thus withdrawn the feeble from the residue 
of the flock, he set himself to bind up the broken heart, to 
guide the seeking soul to Christ, and to lead them all to a 
full and immediate acceptance of the divine offers of salva- 
tion, and to an unreserved dedication of themselves to God. 
The results of these meetings for awakened and anxious 
persons were most valuable and happy. He became indi- 
vidually acquainted with the cases, and feelings, and circum- 
stances of all ; and they found in the advice and exhortation 
which he was able thus to give them, the means of wisdom 
unto salvation. In preparing those who gave evidence that 
they had believed with their hearts unto righteousness, for a 
public profession of religion, we have already seen evidence 
of his vigilant and guarded habit. He watched over them 
and instructed them as a father does his children, meeting 
them collectively and individually again and again for 
instruction and prayer, in reference to the profession which 
they were to make, of personal devotion to God their 
Saviour. In his arrangements for the occasion of their con- 
firmation, his remarkable love for order and harmony left 
no circumstance unnoticed that might promote the serious 
impression or happy feeling which he desired to have pro- 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 219 

duced. Every candidate for the ordinance had a particular 
seat and position assigned, so that there could be no con- 
fusion, nor any disturbance from this source, of the state of 
feeling which he desired. As the result of this care in all 
arrangements, both those of the greater and less consequence 
in themselves, there was uniformly an important and deep 
impression produced upon the minds of the congregation by 
the administration of this ordinance, as there was also by 
his method of administering all the Christian ordinances ; 
and many have dated their first desires for a religious cha- 
racter and hope from a personal observation of these inter- 
esting scenes. One such occasion is described in the follow- 
ing extract : 

" During a period of great seriousness, and very soon 
after I had professed the name of Christ, many were about 
to make a public profession of religion ; our dear pastor had 
delivered a deeply-interesting course of lectures on the sub- 
ject of confirmation, and had conversed privately with all 
the candidates about to partake of that solemn rite. None 
could say that they were ignorant of the nature of those 
vows which were to be ratified by the recipient of confirma- 
tion at St. Andrew's. Faithfully, perseveringly, and affec- 
tionately did Dr. Bedell, both in season and out of season, 
instruct all who came to him for counsel, upon a subject of 
such deep solemnity. Sabbath morning was the season 
selected on this occasion, and when memory reverts to that 
morning my heart feels as though it would invoke the 
holy influence which pervaded the sanctuary on that blessed 
day; and from its deepest recesses breathe desires like 
these : Come, blessed Spirit ! who wert so sweetly present 
then, and visit again all our hearts with the same elevating 
influence which then touched us with hallowed emotions of 
penitence and love. 

"At an early hour the candidates had all assembled. 1 



220 MEMOIH OF 

think above fifty were present ; they were seated in pews 
near the chancel, and presented an appearance of solemnity. 
simplicity, and devotion which was touching in the extreme ; 
there was reason to hope that in every case they were about 
cheerfully, understandingly. and without reserve, to dedicate 
themselves to the service of God. They were almost all 
in the freshest season of youth ; and there in the sanctuary, 
before the altar of the Most High, removed far away from 
the busy scenes of the world, they had turned aside to sit 
at the feet of Jesus — like Mary, to choose that better part, 
which shall not be taken away from them ; many had left 
father and mother, sister and brother, to follow Christ ; 
youth, beauty, and talent knelt that day beneath the cross 
of Jesus, and in the presence of men and angels, vowed to 
be his for ever. It was a scene with which the world can 
not sympathize, for it could not yield them joy to see so 
many of their young companions leaving their ranks and 
joining themselves unto the crucified Saviour. In the after- 
noon they all again assembled in the same seats, to hear 
from the lips of their spiritual father a sermon addressed to 
them from these words : ' "When thou vowest a vow, defer 
not to pay.* Doubtless you remember with what fidelity 
he warned them of their dangers, encouraged them by direct- 
ing them to the c Captain of their salvation,' commended 
them to the prayers and counsels of their Christian breth- 
ren, and with holy love to Him ■ who was able to keep them 
from falling.* Even now can I hear the solemn tones of his 
voice, trembling with emotion, repeating these words : 

" ' TTe share our mutual woes, 
Our mutual burdens bear. 
And often for each other flows 
The sympathizing tear/ 

" When, oh ! when, shall we see another so humble, so 
faithful, and affectionate as he was ; so pure in life, so wise. 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 221 

and yet so gentle 1 May the Lord, by his grace, qualify 
another in like manner to break unto us the bread of life. 
On the following Sunday was the Christmas communion, 
when these youthful Christians were, for the first time, to 
partake of the symbols of a Saviour's love. Dr. B. re- 
quested them to remain until the last, and to advance alone. 
As they approached the table, the hymn was sung com- 
mencing thus : — 

" ( 0, happy day, that stays my choice, 
On thee, my Saviour, and my God ; 
Well may this glowing heart rejoice, 
And tell thy goodness all abroad.' 

And when the youthful band knelt around the sacred board, 
I think few scenes on this side of eternity could compare 
with that for interest. Many, nay, almost all, were the 
spiritual children of Dr. B. ; and as he gazed upon the 
kneeling company, his countenance fully expressed the 
strong yearnings of affection w^hich he felt for those lambs 
of the flock. Before he administered to them the conse- 
crated emblems, he addressed a few suitable words of ex- 
hortation and encouragement to the new recipients. What 
changes have passed over us since that happy period ! Some 
who assembled with us then, have gone rejoicing to their 
rest ; some have removed to other scenes, formed other con- 
nections, but are still dear to our hearts as Christians. Some 
few 'have forsaken us, having loved the present world.' 
And the pastor's form reposes sweetly beneath the shadow 
of the Church he loved, but the spirits who were there still 
exist. Death cannot wholly sever us ; the golden chain of 
love w^hich binds us all together is only lengthened ; every 
Christian friend, whether in or out of the body, still forms 
one link of that strong attraction, which will at last raise us 
all to that place, ' where the voice of parting shall be no 
more heard.' When recalling events like these, departed 



222 MEMOIR OF 

privileges stand before me in all their freshness, and these 
blessed, holy hours, even now shed over my spirit the same 
sweet and elevating influence which made them then so pre- 
cious. Changes have indeed passed over us all since then ; 
but of this I am well assured, that no future events can ever 
banish wholly from our hearts the fond remembrance of 
these vanished hours." 

The following extracts from letters of Dr. Bedell to the 
Eev. Mr. Henderson, refer some of them to the circum- 
stances which have been just related, and others to similar 
occasions of awakened attention to religion among the con- 
gregation of St. Andrew's Church in other years. They 
serve incidentally to exhibit also, how much he prized these 
seasons of grace, and how entirely his heart and his time 
were occupied in the various duties which they brought upon 
him. In the feeling of St. Paul, he seemed to "live" in 
the proportion in which his people were converted from sin, 
and stood " fast in the Lord." And amidst all his bodily 
weakness and suffering, hi this he could always rejoice, and 
for this he was always ready to " spend and be spent." In 
reference to the extracts which follow, Mr. H. remarks : — 

" It will be observed, from expressions in this and the fol- 
lowing letters, that the congregation of St. Andrew's was 
favored at this time with a remarkable degree of religious 
sensibility. Indeed, during the whole period of Dr. Bedell's 
ministry hi Philadelphia, ' the word of the Lord ' at his 
mouth 4 had free course and was glorified.' The faithful 
exhibition of ' Christ crucified,' both as a fact and a doctrine, 
connected with a simple reliance upon the agency of the 
Holy Spirit in its application to the conscience, sought in 
earnest prayer, rendered his preaching eminently successful 
in the conversion of sinners." 

To him Dr. Bedell thus writes :— 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 223 

a My Dear Friend. — 

" Your letter which I received gives some interesting 
intelligence relating to the Seminary. I do hope that you 
may find many who will be disposed to bow the knee in 
social prayer. The number of our inquirers increases, and 
fourteen have been enabled to believe in Christ to the saving 
of their souls. I look for many more. Our meetings are 
all continued, and are all deeply interesting. Our clerical 
association has been abundantly blessed to our own souls, 
and I know of four cases of conviction as among the blessed 
fruits. I do most sincerely pray that you may be preserved 
from all coldness and lukewarmness. I want you to write 
me all about your progress, and every thing that may at all 
concern you. This evening we hold our usual concert of 
prayer. Few of us will be present, as several are now in 
Washington. Ecclesiastical news I have none. I wish 
Church politics were banished to the ends of the earth. 
God be thanked, religion flourishes, and the height of our 
present ambition is, that Christ be glorified in the conversion 
of sinners." 

*■ * * "I expected to have been in New- York, but the 
press of spiritual concerns, and not feeling very well, kept 
me at home. I write this merely to let you know that you 
may answer my letter, not calculating to see my face for 
several weeks at all events. We are all well, and religion 
most blessedly prospers." 

* % % "vy e calculate here on most interesting times. 
The period of c religious sensibility, 5 as Bishop White calls 
it, with which God in his goodness has been pleased to visit 
St. Andrew's has, I think, eventuated thus far in the decided 
conversion of above twenty-five persons ; and I have for the 
last few weeks been most pressingly engaged in preparing 
them and others for the interesting rite of confirmation. 
There are about fifty to be confirmed next Sunday week. 
On Friday evening, 12th inst., I have about six adults to 



224 MEMOIR OF 

baptize. We open the Church on the occasion, and Mr. 
Smith* is to preach an appropriate discourse. On Christmas 
day, we shall have at least thirty new communicants. Some 
of them who were brought into the fold of Christ during our 
season of spiritual refreshing, were quite young, and four of 
them among the most interesting females which we have in 
the congregation. You may judge of my labors, when I 
tell you my usual weekly allowance. Monday afternoon, 
meet a section of those to be confirmed, for special private 
conversation. Another section on Thursday, and another 
on Friday. Wednesday afternoon, a regular lecture to all 
that are to be confirmed. Friday evening, my usual lecture, 
which continues to be crowded. This is beside the Wed- 
nesday and Saturday prayer-meeting, one of which, at least, 
I make it a point to attend. 

*.*;*-" You will be pleased to hear that the serious state 
of things still continues, though not so decidedly marked. 
The last person whom I have reason to think has passed 
from death unto life, is an extremely interesting and very 
decided case. * * * All our young professors hold on well, 
and are much in prayer and in exertion. The Lord blesses 
them. 

* * * "As it regards our more immediate religious con- 
cerns, the Lord still seems to bless us, though not with such 
marked exhibitions of his loving-kindness as we have here- 
tofore had. There are, however, many inquiring, and some 
very peculiarly delightful manifestations of converting grace 
among the young. The Bible-class is very largely attended. 
The Friday evening lectures so crowded that very many 
are obliged to go away. On Sundays our attendance and 
attention are delightful." 

* * * «^y e g on h ere pretty much after the old sort. 
This week there has been one most delightful instance of 

* The present Bishop of Kentucky. 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 225 

conversion in the case of a young officer of the army, every 
thing brought into subjection to the obedience of Christ. 
Many of my dear young children who have lately taken hold 
of religion, not only with their heads and hands, but their 
hearts, will be admitted to the Lord's table on Easter day, 
when I expect an accession of at least twenty, making an 
addition to the communion of the Church, in less than one 
year, of somewhere about eighty, and of these I can say, of 
such, not like our ordinary communicants who are indis- 
criminately admitted without conversation or examination, 
but of such as are able, experimentally able, to give an an- 
swer to every one that asketh a reason of the hope that is 
in them.*' 

The preceding letters were all addressed to Mr. H. while 
a member of the Theological Seminary of the Episcopal 
Church in the city of New- York. They are of different 
dates, through an autumn and succeeding winter, and all re- 
fer to the same season of revival in St. Andrew's Church. 
To another clergyman he thus writes in reference to the 
same glorious and delightful season. 

i: My Dear Friend : 

" I have been hitherto so bad a correspondent, that I sup- 
pose you have given me up in despair, for it is now a long 
time since I have had a single line from you. I have no 
doubt that I richly deserve all possible neglect, but still I 
have always been in hopes, that my brethren would con- 
sider the infirmity of my health, and the multiplicity of my 
engagements. In truth, I seem placed in a situation which 
requires at least a man of far greater physical capabilities, 
for the multitude and the variety of the calls on my time 
and attention are almost inconceivable. With all this, the 
Lord has dealt very mercifully with me this winter, giving 
me, on the whole, better health than I have enjoyed for sev- 
10* 



226 MEMOIR OF 

eral seasons, and sustaining me among labors, such as I have 
never before been called upon to endure. I speak within 
bounds, when I say, that during the blessed season which 
we have had of spiritual refreshing from the presence of the 
Lord, not less than eighty, and most of them young, have 
been turned from darkness unto light, and from the power 
of Satan unto God. During the whole process of their spiri- 
tual impressions, I have been constrained to be with them, 
and have frequently been engaged in conversation from four 
to seven hours a day. At present, there are less powerful 
manifestations of the Divine presence, though still I have 
some every week inquiring, what they shall do to be saved. 

" How much cause of thankfulness have we to God, that 
He should vouchsafe to pour out his Spirit in such copious 
effusions, and how much do we need the prayers of all God's 
people, that we may be faithful ! I should be delighted to 
hear, what good things, if any, the Lord may be doing 
among you. You have now, I expect, a large opportunity 
of usefulness, and I trust strength of body and disposition 
of heart enough to induce you to labor diligently. May 
the Lord prosper you abundantly, and give you many who 
may be your rejoicing in the day of Jesus Christ. 

" Our young friend * * * * whom I long ago expected 
would have been in heaven, for which she is most delight- 
fully preparing, is still on earth ; and to me appears as one 
having risen from the dead, and it is even possible that she 
may yet get well. 

" We heard some particulars of the death of ; 

were you with her ? Let me have a long letter soon, and 
show that you can extend kindness without a quid pro quo, 
The Lord bless and prosper you ; — my respects to your 
good mother, and believe me your friend and brother." 

It can not but be interesting here to introduce also some 
extracts from the pastoral address which was made to those 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 227 

who were at this time united to God in a public religious 
profession, on the afternoon of the day on which the larger 
number of them were confirmed: 

" My dear friends, I must not on this occasion forget to 
say, what in substance I have said to you on frequent oc- 
casions, that this act of self-dedication to God, is about to 
involve you in many and formidable difficulties. You are 
going out into the world the professed disciples of the Lord 
Jesus Christ, and you are to be on all hands surrounded by 
your foes. You are going to share in the reproach of your 
Master, and it is folly for you to expect exemption from 
the malice of the adversary. Your motives will be im- 
pugned, your conduct watched; you will be ridiculed if you 
maintain consistency, and you will be despised if you are 
inconsistent. And especially, as it regards the younger 
portion of you, I can tell you what you ought to be aware 
of, that the devil will put it into the hearts of your worldly 
friends and young companions, to use all their efforts to 
draw you from the path of duty ; they will tempt you with 
gaieties, and they will tempt you with dress, and they will 
tempt you with ridicule, and they will tempt you with a 
thousand solicitations, and all under the guise of love and 
friendship : and they will not be aware of what nevertheless 
is the solemn fact, that the very enemy of all godliness is 
at the bottom of all their solicitations. To every effort cal- 
culated to draw you into sin, or into worldly compliance, 
you must oppose the feeling and the language of your great 
exemplar ; and whether made by foes or miscalled friends, 
declare, ' get thee behind me, Satan.' It is a most melancholy 
thought, that there will be those about you so wicked as to 
wish that you may stumble and fall. Of this you must be 
ever on your guard ; meekly, yet firmly, meet every temp- 
tation : give way once, and your spiritual ruin will be half 
accomplished. I do tremble for you, and were it not that I 



228 MEMOIR OF 

dared to anticipate happy results. I should be filled with 
sorrowful forebodings. Oh ! that I may have faith, and oh, 
that you may have faith, in all your trials and temptations 
to make God your hiding-place. One holy, one sublime 
consolation have you, my young friends, ' the eternal God 
is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms." 

" I have purposely avoided entering fully into all these 
matters on the present occasion, not only because it would 
occupy a longer time than could well be spared, but because 
I wish you to consider that my services are yours on all 
occasions, and in all your trials. I have watched with great 
solicitude the progress of your religious impressions. I 
have endeavored faithfully, and in the fear of God, to give 
you suitable instructions — you are my witnesses, that I have 
not endeavored, by deceitful emollients, to soften down, or 
by any unjustifiable expedients to fritter away your great 
responsibilities. Here, in the presence of God and this 
great congregation, I solemnly pledge myself to you, that at 
your desire, my counsel, my instruction, my prayers are 
yours ; my time, my abilities, my efforts, all at your com- 
mand. If such feeble services as I can render will be advan- 
tageous, come to me in all your trials and difficulties with 
the most unhesitating confidence; my sympathies are all 
enlisted, you need not fear that you can weary. If in the 
merciful providence of God I may be considered by any of 
you in the light of a spiritual father, I would be considered 
in the light of a spiritual friend. My children in the Gospel, 
I may precede you, or many of you may precede me into 
the eternal world, but while we are here together, I would 
most earnestly desire, under the direction of the 'good 
shepherd,' Jesus Christ, to lead you • to green pastures, and 
beside the still waters' — and I will so do, ' God being my 
helper.' Then shall you daily 4 renew your strength ; you 
shall mount on wings as eagles ; you shall walk, and not be 
weary ; you shall run, and not faint' — your path, c like the 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 229 

shining light, -will shine more and more unto the perfect 
day.' Then, what greater happiness could there be antici- 
pated, than that you and I, and the children of God in this 
whole people, should for ever ' see the King in his "beauty,' 
together sing his everlasting praises, and together tread the 
golden streets of the New-Jerusalem, and drink, and that 
for ever, of those living streams which make glad the eter- 
nal city of our God 1 

* * * " Christians, I commend these young disciples 
especially to the sacred benevolence of your prayers. Bear 
them on your hearts before a throne of grace ; remember 
them in your private and your social devotions. They have 
this claim upon your love; and if you are Christians 
indeed, this claim will be answered with cheerfulness and 
promptitude. 

11 'Blest is the tie that binds 

Tour hearts in Christian love : 
The fellowship of kindred minds 
Is like to that above. 

" 'Before your Father's throne 
You pour united prayers ; 
Tour fears, your hopes, your aims are one, 
Your comforts and your cares.' 

" My friends, you who have this day dedicated yourselves 
to God, remember, and take encouragement from the fact, 
that I have now secured to you the prayers of your fellow- 
Christians, the people of God in this congregation. On this 
you may safely calculate, and as God is a prayer-hearing 
and a prayer-answering God, you may anticipate the bless- 
ing. Return it from your inmost souls, and let your united 
supplications go up as the fragrant incense. 

"To that portion of you, my dear friends and people, 
who, even in your own judgment, are not yet numbered 
with the decided and purposed servants and children of the 



230 MEMOIR OF 

Lord, I would in affection and faithfulness embrace the 
opportunity of a word in season. Many of those who but 
lately ranked with you, have this day 'joined themselves to 
the Lord, in the bonds of a covenant' which I trust will 
never be forgotten. They have testified that they have 
chosen the Lord as their everlasting portion; but their 
example, I fear, like the continual warnings of your 
preacher, will be disregarded, and the same unhesitating 
refusal be given to the calls and offers of the Gospel. If 
you knew, my friends, but what you lost — if you knew how 
tremendous the consequences in which your neglect involves 
you ; if you knew what an accumulation of transgression 
the despising of the commands of God lays upon your souls, 
already laden with the guilt of multiplied acts of disobe- 
dience, surely — surely you would pause. But what mortal 
language can tell the immensity of your loss ? That loss 
involves the present favor of your God, and his future 
approbation. Who can depict the consequences of your 
neglect] Who can describe the accumulations of your 
guilt ? Oh, how various, oh, how almost infinite the cata- 
logue ! You have rejected the most urgent calls, and the 
most affectionate entreaties. The promises of God have 
been unheeded ; the threats of God have been braved ; the 
hopes of heaven have been put aside ; the fears of hell have 
been disregarded ; the Spirit of grace has been resisted, and 
the blood of a Saviour trampled under foot with as little 
ceremony as the ' straw which is trodden for the dunghill. 5 
'When God riseth up, what will you say? and when God 
visiteth, what will you answer him?' 

"This little band,* who have this day dedicated and 
devoted themselves to God, furnish you with an example. 
Follow them in so far as they have followed Christ. You 
and they are shortly going to stand before the tribunal of 

* Fiftv-eiglit were confirmed. 



REV. BR. L5EDELL. 281 

the Great Judge of quick and dead ; then will the transac- 
tions of this solemn day be remembered by them and by 
you. Then will be called up, in solemn review, all your 
blessings, all your privileges, all your opportunities. Had 
these disciples better opportunities than you 1 Have you 
not heard the same Gospel ? For your souls did not the 
same Saviour shed his precious blood ? Why, then, are you 
yet at a distance 1 Why should you be separated from them 
on earth? separated at the judgment? separated in eter- 
nity ? I have done. To the God of grace I commend you 
all." 

In a subsequent year, after Mr. H. had finished his theo- 
logical preparation, and was settled as a pastor in the church 
which he still occupies, Dr. Bedell wrote to him in regard 
to another very extensive and important season of spiritual 
increase among his people. 

" My Dear Friend : 

" I suppose you begin to feel what it is to encounter the 
difficulties of parochial engagements, such as absolutely eat 
up time by the roots, and leave no room for other engage- 
ments than those strictly connected with duty. As to 
myself, I am at this time almost overwhelmed. We have 
a very great degree of excitement on the subject of religion, 
or rather, I should not say excitement, for there is not one 
solitary particular which can in any way be construed into 
extravagance, such as excitement merely might produce. 
Nothing would be remarked by an ordinary observer. 
Every thing goes on just as usual, but beneath the whole 
there appears to be a very powerful under-current. Within 
the last three weeks our different meetings have been most 
remarkably attended. Sundays, always full. Friday eve- 
nings, the body of the church well filled. Prayer-meetings 
large and solemn. Since this state of things commenced, I 



332 MEMOIR OF 

have had more than twenty with me, inquiring what they 
shall do to be saved ? Of these, I have good reason to think 
that fourteen have passed from death unto life. There are 
more whose minds are deeply impressed, but they have not 
yet broken through the snares of Satan, so far as to come 
and see me on the subject. 

"My health is not good ; but still, the Lord be praised, I 
am able to get through the work. In order to do this, I 
take a vast deal of bodily exercise. I get up at six o'clock, 
and spend one hour at the gymnasium, which I find is doing 
me immense benefit. I think that clergymen ought to 
make it a point, especially in cities, to take this exercise. 
It gives great muscular activity and strength, and expands 
the chest. 

*•♦<* The most interesting matter is, that there seems 
to be a very considerable attention to the concerns of re- 
ligion. I have now forty-three candidates for confirmation, 
and my last was only ten months ago, when I had upwards 
of forty. There are some exceedingly interesting cases of 
conversion, and those among males, of which there are 
seven recent cases, three of them heads of families." 

In connection with these extracts, and the view which 
they give of the devotion of Dr. Bedell to the advancement 
of spiritual piety among the congregation committed to him, 
it may be proper to refer to the unceasing and peculiar at- 
tention to regularity and propriety in all religious services 
by which he was distinguished. Amidst the deepest interest 
among his people in the great concerns of religion, when 
upon one occasion during a few months, there were more 
than two hundred persons coming to inquire of him the way 
of salvation, and every meeting for religious services was in- 
tensely crowded, anxious, and solemn, there was never the 
remotest appearance of extravagance or undue excitement. 
Silent and deep solemnity marked all the services in which 
he was engaged, and, under his influence, pervaded the audi- 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 233 

ence by whom he was surrounded. He was particularly 
careful of the order of public services, and found in the stated 
worship of the Church an entire and unvarying harmony 
with his own state of mind. He was always very desirous 
to see the congregation engaged in performing their portion 
of the duties of public worship, and preached some interest- 
ing sermons to them upon the subject, urging the duty of 
united and audible responses in the service. Often when he 
observed any individuals inattentive to the devotional ser- 
vices of the sanctuary, he would present them with a Prayer- 
book in private, as a donation from himself, administering 
thus a silent reproof, which he hoped their consciences would 
apply. In this way he became in a most unobtrusive man- 
ner permanently useful. He was exceedingly interested in 
the circulation of the Book of Common Prayer, often saying 
that he considered it " the very best tract for distribution 
which was in the hands of man, and claiming, next to the 
Bible, our efforts for circulation." In the ministry of no 
Episcopal clergyman could there be more habitual and uni- 
form regard, to a walking in the " old paths" of primitive 
order and primitive effort; to the avoidance of every mea- 
sure or step which any one could with propriety consider 
unauthorized or disorganizing; or to the calm and steady, 
but animated and devoted guidance of souls to Christ, through 
the ordinances which he has appointed in his Church. His 
whole ministry, though so powerful and so successful, was 
like his whole mind and character, singularly free from all 
extravagances ; and ever moderate and unassuming, while it 
was influential and effective. In this respect he was a beauti- 
ful example of ministerial fidelity and character, never sacri- 
ficing truth for order, nor order for effect ; but steady, uni- 
form, and permanent in the pursuit of his great object, the 
salvation of souls, in the way which the Scriptures had laid 
open, and in which the most useful and experienced guides 
in the Church had passed before him; giving "faithful 



234 MEM CIR OF 

diligence always so to minister the doctrine and sacraments, 
and the discipline of Christ, as the Lord hath commanded, 
and as the Church hath received the same, according to the 
commandments of God."* This habitual regularity, while 
perhaps it excluded some of the valuable effect which might 
be produced by the power of sympathy upon the minds of 
others, tended, in a very important degree, to confirm and 
establish those who were led to a Christian profession in the 
obligations which they had assumed, and may be considered 
as one reason why there were so few among the numbers 
brought to Christ under his ministry, who were led by 
temptation to go away and walk w T ith him no more. All 
had time and opportunity to act with wisdom and delibera- 
tion. All were calmly and assiduously instructed in the 
truth ; and none were ever hurried in antecedence of their 
own convictions and desires. 

There has not a more valuable or remarkable change 
taken place in the circumstances of the Episcopal Church, 
in the progress through which it has lately passed, than 
that which has resulted in the full and universal restoration 
of confidence to the class of clergymen to which Dr. Bedell 
belonged, as sincerely and thoroughly attached to the prin- 
ciples of the Church. There w^as a time, when the minister 
who encouraged and maintained prayer-meetings in his 
congregation, and who avowed himself a friend of revivals of 
religion, and united in promoting common plans of religious 
benevolence with Christians of other denominations, was con- 
sidered by a portion of the Episcopal community as little 
better than an enemy in disguise. We have lived to see, 
however, a most blessed change in this respect. Such men 
are no longer stigmatized as " low churchmen," as " not true 
Episcopalians." Their full and cordial attachment to the 
principles of the Church has been realized and acknowledged 

* Ordination Office for Priests, 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 235 

Several of them have been elevated to stations, where even 
those who once most opposed them, admire their characters 
and worth. They are found to be, what they always were, 
and by their friends were known to be, in heart and princi- 
ple, deeply and irrevocably attached to the Church in which 
they ministered, though unwilling to carry out the exclusive 
views and feelings which others of their brethren felt- 
obliged to adopt. This unfavorable impression in reference 
to them arose entirely from the want of accurate information 
in regard to those of whom it was entertained ; and the re- 
moval of it is one effect of the free and harmonious inter- 
change of opinion and intercourse, which has marked the 
Church within the few years past. Now the Eastern Diocese, 
Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky, are not supposed to be guided 
by less decided and honest Church principles than New-York, 
New-Jersey, or North Carolina ; though the same views of 
truth, and the same habits of ministry, and the same judg- 
ment of what is expedient and right, still characterize their 
spiritual leaders, which distinguished them in former years. 
For this result, we cannot sufficiently adore and bless the 
Lord of all. We have now no obstacles, but what are com- 
mon to men ; and fewer, indeed, than are common, in pro- 
claiming the truth, and extending the spirit of the gospel of 
our Saviour Christ. Mutual confidence, and a happy, cor- 
dial encouragement and cooperation, seem to prevail in our 
Zion, far beyond what, in days of conflict and distrust, could 
ever have been expected. This spirit will make the work of 
God to prosper with us, and set up the Church in which we 
minister as a name and a praise in the whole earth. 



236 MEMOIR OF 



CHAPTER IX. 

Sunday-Schools — Bible- Classes— Benevolent Exertions — Agencies for 
American Sunday-School Union — American Bible Society — Candi- 
dates for the Ministry — Bristol College. 

After the important and interesting views which have 
been given of his character and duties as a pastor, it will 
now be desirable to exhibit his very successful efforts in the 
instruction and care of the younger portion of his congrega- 
tion, as displayed in the operation of the Sunday-schools 
connected with his Church, in the preparation and publica- 
tion of useful religious books for their use, and in his own 
immediate care and instruction of the Bible classes which 
were formed for regular meetings with himself. This feature 
presents a marked peculiarity in his ministry, for which he 
was extensively known, and as extensively esteemed. Per- 
haps no clergyman in the United States, of any denomina- 
tion, has paid more attention to the establishment and 
instruction of Sunday-schools, or been more successful in 
sustaining and keeping up their usefulness and efficiency. 
The numerous Sunday-schools of St. Andrew's Church have 
been at once the monument of the divine blessing and of 
successful assiduity, and the model and beacon for effort and 
encouragement to many of his brethren in the ministry of 
the Church. This interesting subject can not be better 
introduced than by an extract from his sermon preached on 
the tenth anniversary of St. Andrew's Church. 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 237 

"Within the last twenty-five years an entirely new class 
of causes have been brought into operation, upon which the 
prosperity of churches is made very materially to depend. 
Among those causes there is none so prominent as that 
which may be called the Sunday-school enterprise. How- 
ever it may have come to pass, it is nevertheless certain, 
that with the success of the Sunday-school operations of a 
Church, its spiritual welfare is indissolubly connected. 
This is a matter of experience which is paramount to all 
theories. In relation to this matter the hand of God is 
strikingly apparent, and your minister can safely say. that 
as he states to you the brief history of our Sunday-schools, 
he may remark, that it all seems necessarily to be traced 
to the hand of God. He is not conscious of any extraordi- 
nary effort on his part, except that of falling in most cordi- 
ally with the evident leadings of the providence of God. 
When our Sunday-schools met in September of 1823, the 
vestry-room was amply large enough to contain all the 
teachers and scholars for the purpose of organization. 
Gradually the cause went on, till in January 1833 the whole 
consisted of seventy-Jive teachers, and within four of eleven 
hundred scholars. In the schools immediately connected 
with our Church there are now seventy-five teachers 
employed; but this would give an unfair statement, for 
from a school in the Commissioners' Hall in Southwark, to 
the House of Refuge,* our teachers are to be found scattered 
in various directions, so that not less than ninety actually 
belonging to this Church are thus actively employed. It is 
not my business in this discourse to tell the wonders which 
have been achieved by the Sunday-school enterprise. Suffice 
it to say, it has been the instrumental cause of more con- 
versions than could be here enumerated ; it has changed the 
face of society among those poor who have been willing to 

* Extreme points of the city and suburbs of Philadelphia. 



238 MEMOIR OF 

come under its influence ; it has introduced cleanliness and 
neatness where before there was nothing but dirt and rags 
and the most squalid wretchedness ; it has carried the 
saving influence of the Gospel where there was nothing 
but ignorance and spiritual death; it has carried the 
consolations of the Gospel where there was almost hitherto 
unpitied wretchedness; and it has transformed the rising 
generation of our streets and alleys, nearly ready to become 
a blight and a curse, into a healthy population and a bless- 
ing. In another part of this discourse I mean to say more 
upon the subject, but now I only remark, that by the bless- 
ing of God not less than seventy-five teachers, who are or 
have been connected with this Church, have traced their first 
serious impressions, either directly or remotely, to the Sun- 
day-schools ; and during the ten years of the existence of 
our schools there have not been less than five thousand 
children or adults under the influence of Sunday-school 
instruction, as connected with this Church. The great day 
of eternal account can alone reveal the amount of spiritual 
good produced, for you are aware that seed sown before its 
fruit appears, may long lie apparently corrupted, but it 
brings forth first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn 
in the ear. We have seen enough of the blade, the ear, and 
even the full corn in the ear, to give our hearts the most 
abundant consolation ; but after all, the half, the tenth, the 
hundredth is not probably discovered ; for we believe the 
declaration, ' Cast thy bread upon the waters, and thou shalt 
find it again after many days ; give a portion to six, and 
also to seven, for thou knowest not which shall prosper.' " 

Though in this extract Dr. Bedell with his characteristic 
humility disclaims all other connection with this most suc- 
cessful effort, than a cordial failing in with the apparent 
designs of providence, it must be said of him, that his 
attention to the whole operation of this department of his 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 239 

pastoral connection, and the amount of personal labor which 
he devoted to its prosperity and greater usefulness, -were 
within the limits of my knowledge unprecedented and 
unequalled. He considered Sunday-schools of the utmost 
importance in the Church, and thought no labor wasted 
which was devoted to their interests. He visited the schools 
regularly in their order, frequently addressing himself to 
the children, to which duty he was particularly adapted, and 
thus made himself familiar with the actual character and 
circumstances of them all. He established monthly meet- 
ings for the teachers, for the purpose of considering and 
devising methods of conducting the schools, and for instruc- 
tion upon all subjects connected with them, upon which they 
needed information. "When his own health became too 
infirm to allow him to attend these meetings abroad, he 
removed them to his own house, where they formed one of 
the most delightful and valued occasions, both to himself 
and them, on which he was personally associated with the 
people of his charge. These meetings were systematized 
like all his other plans, and arranged in a way best adapted 
to interest and profit those who had assembled. They com- 
menced about seven o'clock, and closed at half past nine in 
the evening. The first hour was devoted to familiar religi- 
ous conversation, in which he made it a duty to speak to 
every one in the room, although sometimes there were 
seventy or eighty present. Kind and interesting expressions, 
especially in relation to the different concerns of the schools, 
were addressed to each, as circumstances seemed to require. 
In the next half hour a portion of the history of the schools 
was read by himself. The last hour was devoted to prayer 
and praise. The singing was accompanied by the sweet 
music of his organ, of which he had a remarkable control, 
and the notes of which were poured out in a rich and over- 
whelming harmony, or breathed in a soft and touching 
melody, as these alternately expressed the feelings of Lis 



240 MEMOIR OF 

own soul. These meetings were found exceedingly valuable 
and delightful ; they cemented the bond of Christian love 
among the teachers, brought them, though in different cir- 
cumstances of life, into personal acquaintance with each 
other, and enabled those who were better informed, and 
whose advantages had been the greater, to be useful in the 
encouragement and assistance of others with less privileges, 
engaged in the same interesting duty. He prepared questions 
calculated to bring the duties of the teachers and superin- 
tendents more habitually before their minds, which he had 
printed and distributed among them, to be answered and 
returned to him as a monthly report of the state of the 
schools. These questions had the effect of keeping the 
attention of the teachers constantly drawn to the duty in 
which they were engaged. 

Once in each year he assembled all the schools in the 
church for their anniversary-meeting, when he addre 
them in the presence of the congregation. Could I select a 
single occasion of his life in which the whole sweetness of 
his character, and excellence of his ministry, and affection of 
his people for himself seemed to be more completely deve- 
loped than upon any other, it would be this annual meeting 
of the Sunday-schools. His simple style of address made 
him intelligible to the very youngest child before him ; and 
while, amidst the thousand children who were assembled in 
the church, silence and deep interest in his discourse every 
where prevailed, the congregation never failed to gain from 
this occasion a new and more lively interest in this favorite 
department of Christian effort . The services of a single 
anniversary, which I have selected from the history of the 
schools, may be related as an index and example of his sys- 
tem of operation in this department of his ministry, and of 
the harmonious order and the great effect with which he 
arranged all the public services in which he was engaged. 
A selection of the adult members of the colored schools 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 241 

occupied the organ gallery opposite the pulpit, and the 
younger members of the same schools the children's gal- 
leries on the right and left of the organ. The scholars of the 
male white schools occupied the pews on the north side of 
the middle aisle of the church, and also benches placed in the 
aisle ; and the scholars of the female white schools the pews 
on the south side of the middle aisle. The male infant 
scholars took the steps of the chancel, and the female infant 
scholars the benches in front of the pews. All the other 
parts of the church were completely filled by the congre- 
gation. The exercises were commenced by an anthem sung 
with great feeling and correctness by the younger scholars 
of the colored school. After this, the infant boys in the 
chancel went through with some of their exercises, and con- 
cluded by singing a hymn. All the schools then united in 
singing a hymn prepared for the occasion. After they had 
joined in a selection from the prayers of the Church, and 
then in another hymn, Dr*. Bedell addressed them in a most 
interesting and touching manner upon the parable of the 
prodigal son. He? asked numerous questions connected 
with the subject of his discourse, which were answered with 
remarkable promptitude and accuracy. It would seem 
impossible for any one to doubt at least the intellectual 
advantage of Sunday-school instruction, after witnessing 
an exhibition of this kind, where children, without any pre- 
vious knowledge of the questions which were to be put to 
them, were enabled to answer with entire propriety, simply 
by bringing their previous instruction to bear upon the 
particular subject thus proposed to them. 

The annual collection for the schools, which was generally 
taken up on the Sunday after their anniversary-meeting, and 
which increased in amount in every succeeding year to the 
close of his life, always exhibited the interest which tho 
congregation felt in this effort. Dr. Bedell interested him- 
self in preparing a full and very minute history of the schools, 

11 



242 



MEMOIR OF 



which he read as it progressed, at the quarterly meetings of 
the teachers. This occupied much of his time, and it is 
to us a subject of astonishment that, with his enfeebled 
health and multiplied duties, he could have given to this 
merely incidental object so large a portion of his attention. 
The schools connected with this church have so much inter- 
ested the whole Christian community around, and the sub- 
ject of Sunday-schools is so interesting in the exhibitions 
of its importance and influence for the promotion of Christ- 
ianity among men, and Dr. Bedell's connection with this 
enterprise formed so prominent a portion of his ministry, 
that it will not be unacceptable here to present some extracts 
from the history to which we have referred, exhibiting some 
points in the method of operation, and some encouraging 
facts as the result : 

"SEPARATE SERVICE FOR SUNDAY-SCHOOLS. 

"Another subject which requires notice is, that during the 
present year, namely, 1826, an entirely different plan was 
adopted as it regards the afternoon arrangements of the 
schools. As the schools had become too , large to be well 
accommodated in the galleries, and as in the afternoons the 
situation was peculiarly disagreeable from the heat, it was 
proposed, and by the consent of the rector adopted, that 
the plan of a children's church should be tried. It is proper 
to remark that, so far as the rector is concerned, this plan 
was originally acquiesced in, and is still continued only on 
the plea of stern necessity. And it is proper that, in a his- 
tory which will be seen by our successors, something should 
be said in explanation of the whole matter. 

" The idea of a children's church is essentially one of 
deep importance, and one which, if it could, ought to be 
adopted in every church. But it ought to be adopted under 
circumstances which should secure the best ultimate advan- 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 243 

tage. The only plan of a children's church which is believed 
by the writer to be consistent with sound principles, both 
of the Gospel and the church, is as follows : 

" 1. The children ought to be assembled under the direct 
impression that they are no longer in a Sunday-school, but 
in a place where the special purpose is devotion. It appears 
to me that this desirable object can not be attained unless 
the place of meeting should be a room never used for a 
Sunday-school. The ideas of the school and the room are 
so associated that they never will be fully dissevered, con- 
sequently we can have no hope of realizing the entire benefit 
of a children's church while the worship is in a room used 
for teaching. 

" 2. It is important that the prayers used in the children's 
church should be similar in form to those used in the church 
to which the school is attached. The whole of the service 
of the Episcopal Churchy can not be considered as appro- 
priate to such an occasion, but a service ought to be formed 
adapted to the age of the pupils. This is a matter yet 
unprovided for by the highest authorities of the Church ; 
and until this is done I believe it the duty of the minister to 
take the matter into his hand, and to make such arrange- 
ments as he may deem most conducive to edification. 

"3. The scholars who are over fifteen years, at least, 
ought to be excluded from the children's church, because, 
for the most part, they are able to comprehend the ordinary 
run of pulpit instruction, and are apt to be restless and 
unruly in the children's church. 

"4. The children, when assembled for the children's 
church, ought to be exclusively addressed by a regularly 
ordained minister of the denomination to which the school 
belongs. 

" Upon the whole the question occurs, whether the idea of 
a children's church ought to be encouraged where these 
advantages can not be secured ] The answer is, that it may 



244 MEMOIR OF 

be under circumstances of extreme necessity, and to avoid 
evils which may be greater. It was under the pressure of 
these considerations that the idea of a children's church was 

encouraged, not because there were no evils connected with 
the arrangement, but because evils of greater magnitude 
might thereby be avoided. I have often expressed the 
opinion, and I hold it fully to this day. that if the state of 
every Christian church was such that the children connected 
with the church, and others, could be faithfully attended to, 
it would be better to have no schools larger than could be 
accommodated to attend with regularity the preaching of the 
Gospel. But as long as there are not a sufficient number of 
churches in the city to accommodate half the popuhr 
and of course while there must be such a mass of children 
without any church as an appropriate home, schools must 
be larger than can be accommodated with church-room, and 
consequently other means than attendance on regular preach- 
ing must be devised to give them something like the reli- 
gious advantages of public worship. 

; ' FIRST IXFAXT- SCHOOL. 

•• One circumstance comes into the history of the year 
1827 3 which will always be considered as not only forming 
an era in the history of our own schc >lSj but an era in the 
general history of Sunday schools. "We allude to the esta- 
blishment of the Infant school the hrst meeting of which 
was on the 20th of September of the year. "We think that 
the members of Berean Society will enjoy the high satisfac- 
tion of having established the hrst Infant Sunday school 
known in the United States, and. as far as we are apprised. 
in the world. Its organization was of coarse at hrst imper- 
fect, as it was composed of those boys from the Sunday 
schools who were unable to read, without any very special 
reference to their age. The number composing hool 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 245 

at the outset was forty, under the care of Mr. Asheton Clax- 
ton. under whose charge the school remained for some years. 
This school grew rapidly hi the public favor, and on the 
closing Sunday in the year, the number of scholars amounted 
to eighty-four in attendance. 



" IMPORTANCE OP VISITING- BY TEACHERS. 

i; The grand reason which will always serve to account 
for any depression in any branch of our schools, is the 
failure of teachers in the duty of visitation. I am fully 
persuaded that without this, in a very large extent, no 
scheme can succeed. In respect of visiting, the great de- 
ficiency has been found among the male teachers. With the 
exception of seven or eight, all the female teachers from 
whom I have received reports, appear to have discharged 
this duty faithfully. I am aware that there are difficulties 
in the way of the male teachers in this business which do 
not apply to the females in the same degree : for while the 
female teachers have not generally the control of the house- 
hold occupations, being for the most part younger members 
of their respective families, the male teachers are generally 
engaged in those active duties of business which involve 
their personal responsibility. The claims of business there- 
fore, interfere with this duty of visiting, and it is most 
wofully neglected. As a remedy for the evil, it has been 
supposed that the employment of a Sunday-school mission- 
ary might be beneficial ; but valuable as the services of a 
Sunday-school missionary may be, they cannot, by any kind 
of possibility, make up the deficiency of the teachers' visits. 
One grand object of a teacher in his visits to the children of 
his peculiar charge, is to awaken an interest, and to kindle 
and keep warm the attachment of those children to himself; 
and this can never be done by any kind of proxy, no matter 
how valuable. In a matter where the listening to instruc- 



246 MEMOIR OF 

tion is so entirely voluntary, and depends so much upon the 

awakened affections of the scholars, as does the Sunday- 
school instruction, nothing can secure regularity of attend- 
ance, nothing ensure attention to the teaching, nothing can 
secure general good behavior and respect to the teacher, 
but the affections of the child, won through the medium of 
friendly visitation, because it appears, at least, an indication 
of interest. A minister of the gospel, whose face should 
never be seen except in the pulpit, might discharge his pul- 
pit duties with the most singular acceptation ; but he would 
inevitably tail in the object of those duties, because there 
would be a want of the touching sympathies of social inter 
course. And so a Sunday-school teacher, though he may 
attend to the duties of the school-room with most singular 
fidelity, will inevitably fail if he does not wind about him 
what I may call the domestic sympathies of the children. I 
think that some of the difficulties on the subject of visiting 
have originated in the impression on the mind of many a 
teacher, that if he visits the children of his charge, he must 
of necessity go in the character of a kind of preacher. 
This is, however, in my estimation, by no means the view 
of the subject which ought to be taken. The teacher. 
wherever he goes, ought most unquestionably to endeavor, 
as far as the circumstances of the case may allow it, to press 
the concerns of religion upon the child: but the great object 
of the visits of a teacher to his children, is to gain their af- 
fection and confidence, and thus pave the way tor an 
influence over their minds. If it should so happen, that 
even no direct religious intercourse could be had at the time, 
one great object would be gained, if he gathers around him 
the respect and affection of the children. By every minis- 
ter of the gospel, many and many a visit must be made 
which has no direct object, except the establishment of his 
people's affections on himself because he knows that he ma\ 
expect a better attendance in the house of God. and a more 



REV. DR. EEDELL. 24? 

respectful and affectionate attention to the preached word ; 
and thus by means that are indirect, but decided, he does his 
]\ Taster's work. Many teachers I know mistake, therefore, 
one leading design of visitation, and, because they may not 
feel themselves qualified to undertake the work of a mis- 
sionary, they neglect their scholars. Are there any who are 
not competent to engage the affections of the children ] 
Can they not, by calling on them, let the children feel, and 
the parents feeL that they themselves are interested % The 
man who can first make his children love him, can soon ex- 
ert a control over their minds, for nothing wins the affections 
of a child so much as an exhibition of interest ; and the man 
who can make the parents of the children regard him with 
respect and affection, can soon exert a wonderful influence 
over them, for nothing wins the affections of a parent so 
readily as attention to his children. Let every teacher then 
perseveringly visit the children committed to his charge ; 
let him embrace every opportunity to present to the minds 
of those "he may meet the saving truths of the gospel; and 
let him do this according to his Master's directions, endea- 
voring to mingle the prudence of the serpent with the 
tenderness and the harmlessness of the dove ; but let him 
remember, that although he may not find the opportunity 
of religious intercourse as free as he may have desired, 
he has accomplished a most amazing sum of good, if he 
has even the respect of the parents and the affection of the 
children. 

'-' Under these circumstances, then, I am fully persuaded 
that no school can succeed as it ought, without this perse- 
vering and full discharge of this duty ; and though I am 
disposed to make all necessary allowances for the difficulties 
of the case, I see no way of making any school prosperous, 
unless the teachers, in the spirit of the gospel, will find some 
way of making sacrifices of time and effort, and consecrating 
those sacrifices to this important and interesting duty."' 



248 



MEMOIR OF 



"humbeb and arrangement of the schools, 1832. 



1. 


Male Bible Class, 


1 


Teache: 


r, 28 


2. 


Male Sunday School, 


6 


u 


60 


3. 


Male Infant School, 


1 


" 


85 


4. 


Female Bible Class, 


1 


u 


30 


5. 


cc u u 


1 


(.'. 


16 


6. 


Female Sunday School, 


20 


u 


196 


7. 


" Infant School, 


1 


u 


100 


8. 


Colored School, 


15 


u 


200 


9. 


" do. Infant do. 


1 


u 


73 


10. 


Male and Female Col. do. 


26 


u 


300 



73 



1088 



' BENEFIT to the scholars. 



" From the minutes of the Superintendent of the Male 
and Female Colored School in Seventh street, the following 
interesting incident is extracted : In the female infant school 
there are two interesting little children, sisters, one of whom 
is so small that her parent is obliged to carry her to school, 
from which neither can be induced to stay on any account. 
The mother says : ' My little girls have got so good since 
they have been going to Sunday-school, that I can not get 
them to buy me a penny's worth of milk on Sunday. They 
tell me, My teacher says I must not buy any thing on Sun- 
day, for it is the Lord's day. 

u The only other incident which I will mention is one 
which is taken from the Report of the Teacher of the Male 
Infant School. It is one of the most touching incident:-; of 
the kind which I have ever read. I quote his language just 
as it stands. 

"Teachers of infaut schools become acquainted with 
many interesting circumstances which serve to show the 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 249 

happy influence which early religious instruction has upon 
the character and conduct of children. 

"On Sunday, December 11th, a little girl came into the 
school-room to tell me that her brother Joseph was very ill, 
that the doctors had cut a large swelling from his neck, that 
he would like much to see his teacher, and often wept when 
he talked about it. ' He says, too,' she remarked to me in 
a very artless manner, ' that he thinks now he has got reli- 
gion.' 

" Joseph H was above nine years of age, and though 

small for his age, he was quite old enough to have been long 
since transferred to the Sunday-school, but appearing to be 
very fond of the infant school, I felt unwilling to remove him 
against his inclination. I had missed Joseph for two Sun- 
days, but this circumstance, at so inclement a season, which, 
together with sickness, has reduced the school to about one 
half its usual number, I did not consider remarkable, espe- 
cially as he resided a mile from the school. As I went that 
afternoon to his mother's dwelling, I thought of his quiet 
and orderly behavior. His conduct was so habitually good, 
that in the past year I do not remember to have had occa- 
sion to speak to him for any thing wrong winch he had 
either said or done. When I entered his room, he lay upon 
his little bed, with his face bound up, and looked exceed- 
ingly pale. He put out his hand, and appeared much 
pleased to see me. He was a child of but few words, but 
the conversation I had with him was quite satisfactory. 
While speaking to Joseph, his mother came in; she observed 
that she was glad I had called, as she thought it must be a 
great encouragement to me to know that some of the little 
boys seemed to profit by the instruction they received. 
Several years ago, as Joseph was near the fire, his clothes 
by accident caught, and having an apron tied close round his 
neck, the flames burnt his throat in a very distressing man- 
ner. After a long time, the wound was healed in rather an 

11* 



250 MEMOJ.lt OF 

unskilful manner. His mouth and lower jaw were drawn 
sideways, and quite down toward his neck, so that he could 
scarcely close his mouth, and he could not raise his head in 
an erect posture. As he grew, it became more inconvenient 
to him, and often painful ; indeed, it was painful even to 
look upon him. His mother was advised by skilful sur- 
geons to have a portion of the flesh removed, as the only 
probable means of affording him relief. His life, it was 
believed, hung upon this fearful operation, which was calcu- 
lated to chill and appal the stoutest heart, yet he manifested 
no particular fear, nor was it conceived necessary to admi- 
nister an opiate to stupefy him, or to lull the pain. He told 
his mother that he thought he had given his heart to God, 
and now he did not wish much to live. He thought it 
would be better if he should die young, and go and be with 
his Saviour. When the time came, the surgeon was attended 
by seven others to witness the operation. It was performed 
by separating a portion of the flesh from the lower part of 
the jaw, from ear to ear, and the jaw was restored to its 
place. Joseph afterward told his mother, that when the 
doctor first began to cut him, he thought he could not bear 
it and live. But then he prayed to God that he would be 
pleased to help him to bear it, and after that he did not feel 
near so much pain. He afterward prayed for his mother, 
and for his little sister, and for his Sunday-school teacher, 
and said that he felt so happy, and that he loved every 
body. One who was present, and had witnessed many 
awful cases from the field of battle, said that he had not 
seen one which excited in his mind the intense degree of 
interest awakened by the patient suffering of this delicate 
and feeble little boy." 

The interest which Dr. Bedell felt in the Sunday-schools, 
induced him to still larger undertakings for the promotion 
of their full object. His views upon the subject of a sepa- 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 251 

rate religious service for the children on the Lord's day, 
have been detailed in the history. There could be no accom- 
modation provided in his church for schools so extensive, 
and the only alternative appeared to be the arrangement of 
a separate service for them, or the dismission of them to the 
streets. Under such circumstances, he necessarily selected 
the latter course, and met with valuable and useful help in 
the services of some of his brethren in the ministry, who 
cheerfully engaged in the duty of occasional preaching to 
the children in the lecture-room during the regular hours 
of service. Dr. Bedell began, but had not opportunity to 
complete the preparation of a proper liturgy for the use of 
the schools. This was designed for the habitual use of the 
schools in their weekly duties. To the elder scholars he felt 
convinced of the full adaptation of the regular service of the 
church, and presented to each of them a prayer-book, on the 
cover of which he had pasted the following card : 



5s 



® 



S £ 



LET IT BE KEPT CAREFULLY AND NEAT. 



SS P 



ST. ANDREW S CHURCH 

SUNDAY-SCHOOL. 

PRESENTED TO 

BY a. T. BEDELL, Rector. 

" G-od seeth me." 

" God does not care for what I say, 
Unless I feel it too." 




o® 



•ihyhh anox hiial aoiAaas am Nior axv 
He had also employed himself in the preparation of a 



252 



MEMOIR OF 



simple explanation of the church catechism for the use of 
the schools. The want of this he had long felt, perceiving. 
as all his brethren in the ministry also have, the want of 
adaptation of the catechism, as it stands, to the powers and 
comprehension of the youthful mind. But this undertaking 
was also left uncompleted. He had arranged, and intended 
to establish a week-day school for his Sunday scholars, in 
which, under habitual religious instruction, they should be 
made acquainted also with such occupation or trade as 
seemed best adapted to their peculiar individual character 
and mind, and which should enable them to obtain for 
themselves a comfortable support. He had also projected 
an infant asylum for the purpose of enabling mothers 
among the poorer classes of society to attend without anx- 
iety to such occupations through the day as would enable 
them to provide sustenance for their families, hoping thus 
to bring under the notice of pious females many families 
falling into vice and misery, who, with a little timely aid 
and Christian attention, might be reclaimed from sin, and 
saved from suffering and ruin. In all these facts there is 
exhibited the operation of that spirit of Christian love by 
which he was constrained, which thought no labor too great, 
and no plans too multiplied, that might have the effect of 
relieving the ignorance and misery of mankind, and of 
bringing back the world into subjection to the Lord Jesus 
Christ. 

St. Andrew's Church, although so modern in its origin, 
was erected at a time when there was but little attention paid 
to the subject of Sunday-schools. Accordingly, although a 
lecture-room and school-rooms had been provided, the 
schools connected with it were so flourishing that the accom- 
modations which had been prepared for them were far too 
limited and insufficient. This difficulty Dr. Bedell felt most 
deeply, and was anxious to have it removed, if it were in 
any way possible. The large expenses of the church seemed 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 253 

to render it impossible that the vestry should do it as a cor- 
poration, and he hoped to succeed in it among individual con- 
tributions. With this view he addressed the following most 
interesting communication to the vestry upon the subject — 
a little more than a year before his death. The plan, though 
encouraged by all, in consequence of his own waning health, 
did not succeed during his life. It is most gratifying to 
know that under the ministry of his successor, a man of 
like spirit, the object is now likely to be fully attained, and 
the rooms so much desired are likely to be erected. 

" to the vestry oe st. andrew^ church. 
" Gentlemen : 

" There is nothing which I more ardently desire than that 
on all matters connected with the well-being of St. Andrew's 
Church, there should be between you, as vestrymen, and 
myself, as rector, the most perfect and cordial agreement of 
opinion and of action. Without this, the prosperity of the 
church will most unquestionably decay, and for that decay 
yourselves as the vestry and myself as the rector will be 
held responsible, both by the congregation and by the great 
Head of the Church, when we shall render up our account 
at the day of judgment. Whatever, therefore, is done by 
either of us should be done in reference to these results. 

"Viewing the subject in this light, and conscious that I 
have no object in view but to subserve the interests of 
Christ, in their connection with St. Andrew's Church, I lately 
laid before the vestry a proposition touching the erection of 
a suitable Sunday-school house and lecture-room. I did this 
under the most firm and conscientious impression, that on 
the success of the plan would depend the welfare of this 
Church. I have reason to know that my views are right on 
this subject. For the spiritual welfare of the Church a 
Sunday-school house and lecture-room are indispensable, and 
I took the liberty of stating to the vestry that it would be 



254 MEMOIR OF 

out of my power to maintain our standing without it. Yet 
as I knew that such a house as was necessary could not, 
under present circumstances, be built by the vestry, I 
offered to take from them all pecuniary responsibility, and 
only asked for a grant of ground. I can not express to the 
vestry my deep regret to learn that my proposition was 
agreed to only by a majority which causes a painful strug- 
gle in my own mind whether I can accept the power granted 
with such demonstrations of reluctance. If I dared to con- 
sult my own feelings I should at once throw up the matter 
in despair ; but when I remember that I am acting only as 
the agent of One whose cause I am bound to carry on 
through evil and through good, through difficulty as well as 
ease, I must hold the subject under still longer advisement. 
In the mean time, I wish the vestry to take into their most 
serious consideration whether there are not some terms 
upon which they may respond to my wishes in this thing. I 
earnestly entreat them to take into favorable consideration 
the following propositions, which I hope will be passed with 
perfect unanimity, in the farm of resolutions : 

" 1. That the vestry would quarterly appoint a com- 
mittee, whose duty it shall be to visit the Sunday-schools at 
least once in every month, and report the fact of their so 
doing to the vestry, with any thing else they please. 

" 2. That the vestry would appoint the wardens a com- 
mittee of advice with me, in relation to the best method of 
accomplishing the design of erecting a suitable Sunday- 
school house and lecture-room, making any clause they 
please to show that no pecuniary responsibility is to come 
on the vestry. 

" I come now to a part of my communication which has 
cost me deep reflection ; and the conclusion to which I have 
reached, is one which I believe the case imperatively 
demands. It is a personal sacrifice, on my part, to the 
object I so ardently desire to accomplish. The greatest 



REV. DK. BEDELL. 255 

difficulty which stands in my way in relation to the build- 
ing proposed, is that which arises out of the permanent pro- 
vision for the sexton. There is but one way to accomplish 
this, and to that way my mind is determinately settled. I 
hereby solemnly and cheerfully relinquish to the vestry two 
hundred dollars per annum of my salary. This, during my 
rectorship, will be permanent, and when I rest from my 
labors beneath the marble which may be seen from the 
windows of the school house, the vestry may offer to my 
successor eighteen hundred dollars, and the permanency of 
the matter is secured. 

" The vestry may suppose that I have done this know- 
ing, or rather hoping, that the vestry will not receive the 
sacrifice. I am about to give the vestry a proof of my sin- 
cerity, in the offer which, after its announcement, none will 
question. It is this. Let the vestry take what course they 
please — cooperate heartily with me or refuse me — never, 
from after next December, will I touch one farthing of the 
money now relinquished. If it is offered me I will refuse 
it; if it is sent to me I will return it. I solemnly pledge 
myself so to do as a test of my sincerity in the offer, and 
my earnest desire to subserve the interest of the Church, 
which can only be done through a sacrifice of the kind I 
have made. In no other shape can the permanent provision 
for the sexton be acquired, and I have faith to believe that 
the God who has led me all my life long, and by a series of 
peculiar providences established me as the rector of this 
Church, will never permit me to want for the poor sacrifice 
which I make to the welfare of this loved and cherished 
Church. 

" Do I ask more than the vestry, if they regard my feel- 
ings and desires, should be ready to grant, when all I ask is 
a hearty, unanimous cooperation in my plans for good ? 
" I remain, Gentlemen, 
" Your friend, 

"G. T. Bedell, Rector." 



256 ::z::oie of 

The following resolutions show that the vestry were now 
ared to meet the views which he suggested without the 
sacrifice which had been proposed — a sacrifice which, it is 
due to them to record, his successor has uot been required in 
any way to inherit. There is still the same spirit of liberal 
and united cooperation in every work of good in this 
Church, which has distinguished it from the "beginning ; 
though in this, as in every congregation, it is no cause for 
wonder that there are those still who do not feel the deep 
interest which their pastor felt in the promotion of this 
peculiar work of religious benefit to others. 

'•At a stated meeting of the Vestry of St. Andrew's 
Church, held June 4th. 1833. the following resolutions were 
adopted : 

"Resolved* That a committee of three be appointed to 
meet with, and act with three appointed by the rector, so 
that with himself there would be a committee of seven. 
who should take in charge this whole business of the 
building. 

- Messrs. Robins. Keith, and Dr. Mitchell were appointed 
said committee. 

"Resolved. That a committee of three be appointed quar- 
terly, whose duty it shall be to visit the Sunday-schools at 
least once in each month, and report whatever may by them 
be deemed worthy of notice. 

" Extract from the minutes. 

"J. Patterson. Secretary."' 

In our description of Dr. Bedell's pastoral duties, a pro- 
minent position ought to be given to his interest in Bible- 
classes. From the commencement of his ministry in Phi- 
ladelphia to the close of his life, in addition to his other 
arduous and accumulated duties, he attended every week a 
female Bible-class, open to the attendance of all who felt 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 25? 

disposed to pass with him through a course of Scripture 
study. For the first few years the subjects of study were 
taken from the Old Testament. In subsequent years the 
Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles were studied. During 
the last winter of his ministry he had occupied the attention 
of the class with the commencement of a course of study 
upon the Prophecies. He had prepared a set of questions 
for another course on the Epistle to the Romans, and some 
preparatory lectures upon the same subject to be delivered 
on the Friday evening previous to the meeting of the class. 
From the accomplishment of this purpose, however, he, was 
removed by death. His Bible-class was a source of unvary- 
ing interest and delight to those who attended it. All 
gained very important and edifying instruction, and many 
the wisdom which is unto salvation. He had very peculiar 
facility in making his expositions of the Scripture interest- 
ing to them, and he spared no labor or care to promote 
their improvement and gratification. Transparencies, and 
maps, and other methods of illustration for the Scripture 
subjects before them, were all sought and made to fulfill an 
important part in giving interest to the class in the duty in 
which they were engaged. 

The members of his Bible-class, in consequence, felt 
bound to him by a peculiar tie of gratitude and affection. 
The benefit which they had received from him was inesti- 
mable, and they had learned highly to value not only that, 
but also the self-denying and laborious effort with which it 
was communicated. 

The following account of this last winter's session of the 
Bible-class, from one who had been for several seasons a 
member, can not fail to interest the reader : 

" During the last winter of his life, and when his great 
debility and weakness were continually increasing, Dr. 
Bedell delivered a course of lectures to his female Bible- 



258 MEMOIR OF 

class, on the Prophecies. They possessed great interest, 
and the average number of ladies attending was a hundred 
and twenty. 

" His own interest in this subject of study was very great. 
He prepared a syllabus of the course of instruction he 
intended to pursue, which was printed for the use of the 
class. The subjects of each lecture were stated in order, 
with Scripture references, and to these were added questions 
on each lesson. It was not the intention of our pastor to 
deliver a course of lectures merely to the class, but to call 
upon each individual at every meeting to answer at least 
one of the prepared questions on the preceding lesson. But 
finding the necessary explanations to require a great deal of 
time and labor on his part, and the subject being quite new 
to most of the class, at least in his manner of treating it, 
and often from its nature obscure and difficult, he relin- 
quished this part of his plan, though with evident regret. 
He subsequently stated to us that he should not be willing 
ever again to engage in exercises of the same kind without 
the use of questions. 

" The basis of this course of instruction was ' Faber's 
Sacred Calendar of Prophecy. 5 The general theory of this 
author Dr. Bedell adopted, as the most satisfactory he had 
ever met with, ' though constrained to hold different views 
on some of the particular prophecies.' It was his intention, 
which he had partly carried into execution, to prepare an 
edition of this important work for publication in this country. 
He did not spare pains or exertion for the advantage of the 
class while pursuing this study. He caused to be drawn 
for their use a picture, the full size of a man, representing 
the great metallic image as described by the prophet Daniel. 
Different parts of the picture were painted of different colors, 
as the head of a gold-color, etc. 

" Notwithstanding his weakness he never failed to meet 
the class through the winter, except in very inclement wea- 



REV. DR. BEDEXL. 259 

ther. The last meeting was held on the 30th of April. He 
expressed his gratification that he had been enabled to con- 
tinue the exercises of the class so long ; and made a single 
allusion to the probability, that in the same relation we 
might never meet again. This was unusual with him, and 
we deeply felt the remark, though hope still taught us to 
look forward to future meetings. We were not willing to 
believe that this was, as it proved, the very last." 

Though the labors of mind and body which I have already 
described were almost innumerable, another important, part 
of his efforts for the religious good, especially of the rising 
generation, must not be omitted. In the midst of all his 
varied and pressing parochial duties he prepared and pub- 
lished many works of small size, adapted not only to inter- 
est the minds of children in religious subjects and concerns, 
but also those in more mature periods of life — and indeed all 
whose attention could be drawn to serious subjects. Several 
of these works were prepared for the American Sunday- 
School Union, and have been widely circulated through 
various libraries of Sunday-schools throughout the country. 
Among these are the lives of Moses and St. Paul ; the Life 
of Leigh Richmond ; the story of Robert Benton; the history 
of Tahiti, in three volumes ; and the Teacher's Assistant, 
originally published weekly in the Sunday- School Journal, 
Others of his publications were for more mature readers. 
These were Ezekiel's Vision, the substance of several ser- 
mons on the vision of the valley of dry bones ; Way- 
Marks, designed as a guide to minds awakened to religious 
inquiries ; Is it well % — three questions addressed to wives 
and mothers — " Is it well with thee % Is it well with thy 
husband % Is it well with the child V the Religious Sou- 
venir, which was prepared by him for three succeeding 
years; and Bickersteth's Treatise on the Lord's Supper, 
with an introduction and notes, and an additional essay on 



260 MEMOIR OF 

worldly amusements. These little books, not too small for 
the parlor-table nor too costly for the poor man's shelf, have 
been scattered throughout the United States, and some of 
them republished in England. Such is the excellence of 
their character that they can not fail to be useful wherever 
they go ; and many instances have come to our know- 
ledge, in which they have been blessed of God to the accom- 
plishment of manifest and important spiritual good. These 
publications were all individually small, because their simple 
object was usefulness to others, and not eminence to himself. 
He made no effort to gain or to support a literary reputation 
for himself. His great end was to be in all things an instru- 
ment of good to others. In the attainment of this end he 
was favored to an unusual degree, and his reward is not so 
much in man's judgment, though there he is not deficient, as 
it is in the favor and approbation of God. 

Dr. Bedell's interest was strongly and permanently en- 
listed in the promotion of the great objects of religious 
benevolence. His own liberality and disinterestedness in 
expenditures for the promotion of the gospel among men, 
which were well known to his intimate friends, led to a 
desire in his heart for equal effort and equal generosity on 
the part of the congregation committed to him. In this 
desire he was not disappointed ; they sustained him in the 
plans which he proposed to them for doing good, with much 
liberality. In reference to tins, he says in his anniversary 
sermon : — 

" God has wonderfully blessed us in the stand which this 
congregation has taken, as it regards the advancement of the 
cause of Christ. I am fully persuaded, that there is nothing 
which gives a better criterion by which to form a judgment 
of the healthy state of religion, than the disposition mani- 
fested in a congregation to lend the aid of their time, their 
talents, and their property, to the promotion of religion. It 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 261 

has been the reproach of Episcopalians, that there has ex- 
isted among them so little disposition to advance the inter- 
ests of the Redeemers kingdom. It is not necessary at the 
present time that I should decide the question, whether this 
reproach is true or false ; but I do desire to record it as one 
of the most distinguishing mercies vouchsafed to this Church, 
that there has been here exhibited a very decided spirit of 
unusual, liberality. I do not remember that any thing of a 
definite form has ever been presented to you, but it has met 
with a hearty and liberal cooperation. The cause of Christ, 
in general, as fully identified with the advance of spiritual 
religion among yourselves, has been ever held up to you 
from this pulpit ; and I do most humbly yet most fully ren- 
der my thanksgiving to God, that he has inclined your hearts 
to look with favor on those plans of Christian benevolence 
which constitute the moral glory of the age. Take the sub- 
ject of education : our Sunday-schools have been always 
well supported ; whatever has been asked, has been given. 
Two Bible classes connected with the Sunday-schools of this 
church, together with the female school, and two classes 
under the direction of one of our teachers, but whose mem- 
bers do not belong to our Church ; these classes have now 
for three years or more supported a school in Greece, at the 
annual appropriation of 8300, and at this moment upwards 
of one hundred of the descendants of this once great, but 
now debased and ignorant people, are receiving at the hands 
of a few young persons among us, the benefits of an enlight- 
ened education. I have no doubt that this statement is new 
to many of my hearers ; for this thing has been done, not 
for the purpose of show, but from a spirit of enlarged benefi- 
cence. I state it that God may have the glory. And 1 have 
not yet done speaking on the subject of education. Several 
young men, whose hearts the Lord has prepared for the 
work of the ministry, have already been assisted in their 
education by the members of this Church. At this moment 



262 MEMOIR OF 

from the communicants alone, there are funds raised which 
will educate fifteen annually, allowing $75 as the expense of 
the education of each one. This i? 61125 annually devoted 
to this object. Averaging the period of the education of 
each at rive years, in ten years thirty ministers of the gospel 
will here have received the means of education ; and if the 
process goes on but fifty years, the Church of the living God 
will have been indebted to the communicants of this congre- 
gation tor one hundred and fifty ministers of the gospel. 
educated intellectually, spiritually, and physically, for the 
spread of the Redeemer's kingdom. Lest I should be sup- 
posed as at all exaggerating, I have left out other matters 
connected with the subject of education, which would swell 
the catalogue of mercies, in relation to which we have res ■ 
to say. • Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.' I turn to the 
missionary question. Besides the collections taken up in 
tins Church at the call of the General Missionary Society, 
and the Society tor the Advancement of Christianity in Penn- 
sylvania, the Ladies' Society tor the Promotion of Religion 
have sustained two missionaries in the lar : 
our city, and to hundreds and thousands of the poor and des- 
titute has the gospel of Christ been preached. The ."Male 
Society has done the same, but hi a more limited degree. 
God of his mercy kis enabled us to listen to the voice of the 
Saviour, when he lias said. ' Go preach my gospel to every 
creature." and in this he has wonderfully helped us hitherto. 
Is there among you one individual poorer tor what he has 
done? No; but there are ba and thousands among 

us and abroad, who are richer and happier for time and tor 
eternity."' 

While this extract states some of the results which had 
been attained in this congregation, in the gaining of fffi 
for the promotion of the gospel abroad and at home. 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 263 

in operation to gain these results, may serve to" exhibit still 
farther his abundance in the labors, and his adaptation to 
the duties, of the various aspects of a pastor's responsibility. 
There were no less than five distinct societies, male and 
female, established under his direction in St. Andrew's 
Church, for the accomplishment of different objects under 
the general head of religious benevolence. All these socie- 
ties he visited in turn at their weekly and occasional meet- 
ings, exhorting them to increase of diligence and zeal, ad- 
dressing them upon special subjects connected with their 
undertaking, and interesting himself personally in the small- 
est circumstance connected with their prosperity. Nothing 
in this connexion was beneath his notice and care. And 
while his mind embraced and presented to them the largest 
fields of religious enterprise, and the most extended plans of 
operation for the whole, he would appear equally interested 
in the cutting of a garment for the poor by some member of 
the Dorcas Society, or in devising and improving some little 
fancy article for sale for the collection of money for the 
missionary cause. The arrangements of an annual fair for 
the sale of the products of the work of a Sewing society, 
were made and superintended by himself. The evils which 
were supposed to attend this system of raising money were 
noticed and answered by him. His own presence and con- 
trol removed all abuses which might have been elsewhere 
connected with it, and in each succeeding year, under his 
wise direction, they became a continued, acceptable, and im- 
portant instrument of increasing to a very large amount, 
the funds for the accomplishment of the purposes of the 
society in the promotion of religion among men. He 
delighted to see the beneficent spirit of the Christian exerting 
itself for the relief of want of every description ; but he 
always avowed his decided opinion, that his first duty was 
to the cause of the gospel and to the promotion of Christian- 
itv among men. For this end the societies of his Church 



264 MEMOIR OF 

were vigorously engaged. Two missionaries for destitute 
parts of the city of Philadelphia were at one time supported 
by them with a salary of 8500 each. The large and flour- 
ishing congregation of Grace Church, now under the care of 
the Eev. Wm. Suddards, owes its origin to one of these 
societies. They supported the minister of this Church for 
some years after they had commenced the effort, when the 
congregation itself was small and feeble. It is delightful to 
record, too, that the zealous spirit which animated them in 
their works of love, has rested also, in a large measure, upon 
the Church now so prominent, which has sprung from this 
small beginning. The liberal spirit of Dr. Bedell was 
always seconded and carried out by his people. In a single 
year the sum of 88000 has been collected in the congregation 
of St. Andrew's Church, for the furtherance of the gospel, 
while in no year under his ministry was there a deficiency 
of exertion in regard to the high standard of duty which he 
had presented to their minds. 

Dr. Bedell was always found ready to give his influence 
and exertions to every valuable object for religious labor. 
While the peculiar institutions of the Episcopal Church 
were uniformly sustained by him and his congregation, he 
was prepared and willing also, as opportunity offered, to 
engage hi the efforts in which other Christian denominations 
were united together, to promote the common purposes and 
triumphs of Christianity. The American Sunday-school 
Union was an object with him of especial interest. For 
this he made several journeys, to gain a knowledge of the 
state of Sunday-schools generally, and to promote their 
prosperity. His peculiar power in addressing congregations 
of children, rendered him exceedingly useful and interesting 
on these journeys. On such occasions, he spoke with an 
irresistible influence. During one of these journeys I well 
remember the deep interest which was excited by his ap- 
pearance and address. He founded his remarks upon 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 265 

well known commission of Pharaoh's daughter to the mother 
of Moses, " Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I 
will give thee thy wages." His audience was composed of 
several hundred children, and many adults of the highest 
respectability. Among the latter were several of the most 
distinguished of the statesmen of the United States, one of 
whom was afterwards placed in the highest office in the gift 
of a free people. But there was not probably one unmoved 
hearer in the house, while some of the most intelligent de- 
clared, they had never before so felt the power of a public 
speaker. There are many in the different parts of* the 
country, who will not readily lose the impressions which 
they received from similar addresses. 

To one of the last of these journeys he refers in the fol- 
lowing letter to a clergyman, to whose place of residence he 
was about going for the purpose already described. 

" Rev. akd Dear Brother : 

"I am about to take a short tour for the benefit of my 
health, and have been requested by the managers of the 
Sunday-school Union to speak to the children and teachers 
connected with their institution. I have felt myself called 
upon by a sense of duty to consent so to do, and letters 

have been written to the proper persons in , that, if 

they deem it expedient, arrangements might be made. 

" Whether they may think it expedient is a matter which 
I have not yet ascertained, but I shall be prepared, and I 
suppose as the Episcopal schools are not connected with the 
American Union, that the address, if given, will be in one of 
the Congregational Churches. My purpose in writing is to 
say, that my only object is to address teachers and children, 
and consequently I hope, that my so doing will not be con- 
strued into any hostility to the Episcopal Sunday-school 
Union. I wish this institution of our own Church every 
possible success, and rejoice in its rising prospects; but my 
12 



266 MEMOIR OF 

attachments have been to the American Union for many 
* years, and I have seen no circumstance calculated to dimi- 
nish that attachment. My own schools are attached to both 
institutions. It would give me pleasure to address the child- 
ren of the Episcopal schools also, but this will of course de- 
pend on the wishes of those who have the management." 

Dr. Bedell was always a most acceptable speaker at the 
anniversaries of benevolent societies. He was so often en- 
gaged in this duty, that it would be quite impossible to give 
any extended account of the occasions upon which he spoke. 
As the circumstances of his original connection with the 
American Bible Society have been mentioned, however, his 
address at the anniversary of that Society in 1828 will be 
appropriate and acceptable, as a specimen of his style of ad- 
dress in this department, and of his abiding attachment to 
that noble institution. It is affecting indeed, in looking 
over the names of those who were prominent on that occa- 
sion — Varick, Troup, Hyde, Sanford, Rice, and Bedell, all 
names widely known, and as widely esteemed in the Church 
of Christ, have gone to their final resting-place in a vast 
eternity ! How solemn is the appeal which the departures 
of such men make to those who are left to act for the cause 
of Christ !— " Work while it is called to-day ;" " Whatso- 
ever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might." 

" Mr. President : 

" In rising to offer a resolution, which has been put into 
my hand, I trust that I may not be considered as travelling 
far out of the path which it becomes me to pursue, if I ven- 
ture to express my feelings on being permitted to be pre- 
sent at this anniversary. It is a pleasure which, for years, 
I have been anxious to enjoy ; for, though living during the 
last six in a sister city, I have hitherto been prevented by 
some paramount obligations. The difficulties having been 
removed, I am now permitted to be present, at what I con* 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 267 

sider, in every respect, the most august, the most "beneficent, 
and the most eternally important assemblage which ever 
has or ever can be gathered in our country ; and when I 
compare my own feelings at present with what I have read 
of theirs, who, at this season of the year, are annually 
gathered together in the city of London on the same high 
and holy purposes, I am no longer surprised at what I once 
considered enthusiasm, and what might once have passed 
with me for romance. I do not suppose that a single indi- 
vidual present is ignorant of what is now going on in the 
metropolis of England, when London appears as did Jeru- 
salem at the day of Pentecost, for there are gathered to- 
gether Israelites indeed, devout men, out of almost every 
nation under heaven, waiting for the fulfillment of the 
promise, in another outpouring of the Spirit. But, Sir, the 
same causes which give a heavenly charm to the city of 
London at this season, give a heavenly charm to the city in 
which we are assembled. I may not forget, that this city is 
the city of my birth, and earliest years ; and though, in the 
purposes of Providence, it does appear, that it is not to be 
the city of- my residence, yet I may not also forget that it 
is peculiarly dear to me, because it is the place of my fath- 
er's sepulchre. But, Sir, there is a charm about it at this 
time, which is far superior to all these. I feel — and this is 
sufficient for my present purpose — I feel, that there is now 
assembled on the general legislation of the spiritual Church 
of the living God, the zeal, the energy, the wisdom and the 
piety of the land ; that here, as it were, ' the chariots of God 
are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels : and that the 
Lord is among them, as on the holy place of Sinai.' There 
is here a moral atmosphere created, which is all fragrance ; 
and in reference to this assembly it may be said, in a far 
higher sense than genius ever prompted poetry to sing, 

' Sweet month ! 
' If not the first, the fairest in the year !' K 



268 MEMOIR OF 

" In paying a close attention to the full and satisfactory 
report which has been read, and in listening to. the interest- 
ing and animated addresses which have been pronounced in 
our hearing, my mind has been powerfully impressed with 
the idea, that the year which has ended has been marked 
with the smiles of Providence in the most signal manifesta- 
tions. 

" There never was, perhaps, a year in which the Bible 
cause has received so great an accession of real friends, for 
a man only becomes a real friend to the Bible cause, inas- 
much as his heart comes under the influence of that Spirit 
by whose inspiration the Bible itself was written. Probably, 
when I say that there never was a year in which the Bible 
cause received so great a reception of real friends, I may 
make my meaning more intelligible by a recurrence to facts 
of so spirit-stirring a character, that whether they stand 
alone, or are connected with this subject, they may make 
the hearts of Christians rejoice, because they have already 
been the occasion of rejoicing among the angels of God. 
This year and the last have been years of large and exten- 
sive revivals of religion. Take up the vehicles of religious 
intelligence which have emanated from the east, the west, 
the north and south, and the triumphs of the Cross are 
recorded in the multitudes, who, under the most powerful 
outpourings of the Spirit, have been i brought from darkness 
to light, and from the power of Satan unto God.' I need 
not enlarge on these facts before such an audience as this. 
That there have been these revivals is well known to every 
friend to the Eedeemer's cause. But, Sir, the remark I 
draw from it is this, and it is a remark which brings this 
soul-cheering subject to bear on the very purpose, aad in 
the very work for which we are assembled. It is supposed, 
(rhave not the data to go into any such calculation, as to 
make the matter subject of demonstration,) but it is sup- 
posed, that during the last eighteen months or two years, 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 269 

more than one hundred thousand individuals have been hope- 
fully converted and brought into the Church of the living 
God, under the impression of these seasons of spiritual 
refreshing from the presence of the Lord. If so, then what 
cause of congratulation, not only because souls have been 
rescued from the grasp of the destroyer, and are regenerated, 
brought into the enjoyment of the glorious liberty of the 
sons of God, but because there are one himdred thousand who 
are now the friends of the Bible, not on ordinary grounds, 
but on the experienced benefit of its power, and in the sym- 
pathies of their new creation in Christ Jesus. Many of 
these men may before have been the acknowledged advo- 
cates of the Bible ; but what a difference will it make in the 
same men, when once the sympathies of a converted heart 
are brought to bear on the sacred cause. Oh ! what a real 
friend will he be to the cause, who, through the power of 
the precious Word has been, in the language of the Bible, 
' begotten again to a lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus 
Christ from the dead!' Now, Sir, I hazard a remark, 
(I know not personally whether it has its foundation in 
fact or not,) but in reflecting on the subject it appears to 
me as if the whole rationale of the operation required it, 
that the magnificent efforts which have characterized the 
last year of the Bible Society, and about which so much has 
been written in the Eeport, and so much said in the 
addresses, that these magnificent operations have originated 
with those alone who have been brought into the fold of 
Christ during these revivals, or who, themselves Christians 
before, have had their hearts warmed into a livelier sensi- 
bility, and wakened into a more burning zeal in consequence 
of these revivals. If I am mistaken, Sir, no harm is done. 
If I am right, then have we still more abundant reason to 
be convinced, 'that it is all the Lord's doing, and it is 
marvellous in our eyes.' 

"This, Mr. President, leads me directly to the specific 



270 MEMOIR OF 

subject of the resolution which I hold in my hand, and 
which, before I make a few additional remarks, I will take 
the liberty of reading : e That the smiles of Providence on 
this Society, particularly during the past year, call for the 
devout gratitude of all the friends of the Bible, and for new 
zeal in the work of its future distribution.' 

"This contemplates thanks to Almighty God. About 
the propriety of this, as I had occasion to remark the other 
evening, who can raise a question ? But, Sir, thanks which 
flow from the warm inspiration of the heart, instead of the 
cold expression of the lips, always flow out into some prac- 
tical exhibitions. When the soul of the Psalmist was almost 
too full for utterance, and when his question was, ' What 
shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits?' he 
answered, ' I will take the cup of salvation, and will call on 
the name of the Lord !' How shall we express our grati- 
tude to God ? By enlarged exertions. Let every individual 
be more active, pray more intensely, give more personal 
exertion, give more largely of your money. Much has 
been done, there is much left undone. I recollect to have 
heard a remark, made at a late Bible anniversary in Phila- 
delphia, somewhat like this, that although much has been 
done by the efforts to put a Bible into every family in the 
land, why not into the hands of every individual % Is this 
supposed extravagant, unnecessary, or impracticable? In 
answer to the idea of its impracticability I would say, 
nothing is impracticable where the cause of God is con- 
cerned. Faith, which can remove a mountain, can put a 
Bible where it lists. It gives me pain to hear Christians 
talk of the impracticability of doing that which has the glory 
of God for its object. Why, Sir, that faith which lays hold 
on the promises of God, has a derived omnipotence. This 
suggestion is not unnecessary. Why, Sir, let me illustrate. 
We were both children once, and though it costs your 
speaker a shorter effort of memory to look back than it does 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 271 

vours,* yet we can both remember well enough, that the 
toy which was the common property of the play -room or 
the nursery, loved as it was, was not loved as the one which 
each would call his own. When we deal with men,, whether 
for their temporal or eternal welfare, we must deal with the 
ordinary principles of human nature. When we proffer the 
salvation of the Gospel, we do it as a general offer ; but we 
want every individual so to receive it as to be enabled to 
say, " My beloved is mine and I am his." So of the Bible. 
Let every individual call a copy of it his own, and then it 
will be better loved and better received. I do but hint at 
this subject, for I do not suppose that its accomplishment 
by us is to be thought of. We have already come up to 
the measure of our faith. I repeat it, we have already 
come up to the measure of our faith. It will require the 
energies of another generation, whose faith shall be stronger 
than ours. Yet, do I doubt the accomplishment of the pro- 
ject I have hinted at? No, Sir; I have no more doubt of 
it than I have that I now address you. The whole history 
of the Bible Society has been a history of nothing but pro- 
gression. ' Speak to the children of Israel that they go for- 
ward,' has been the word, and they have gone forward ; and 
though they have sometimes seen the Red Sea in front, and 
almost impassable mountains on either side, and their foes in 
the rear, yet they have still gone forward, and the Lord has 
opened their way. And though their enemies may not have 
perished like Pharaoh and his hosts, they have nevertheless 
been left so far behind in the wilderness, that they have 
given up the chase as hopeless. 

" We have heard much to-day, Mr. President, on the sub- 
ject of encouragements. Why, Sir, my soul doth magnify 
the Lord that there are these encouragements. But they are 

* The venerable Col. Yarick was then the President of the Society, 
who soon after departed from the earth. 



272 MEMOIR OF 

condescensions to the weakness of our faith. I hare one 
encouragement to offer you this morning, which is worth 
all the external and adventitious circumstances which have 
served to rill our hearts witl iod gladi. 

I: is an encouragement furnished me by an bout 

whose authority there will he here no c 'As the 

rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth 
not thither, but watereth the earth and rnaketh it to bring 
forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread 
to the eater, so shall my word be. dial b out of 

my mouth ; it shall not return unto me void, but it shall 
accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the 
things whereto I sent it.' How beautiful, how sublime. I 
full ! What need have we of furl :;ess ? The Lord 

hath spoken. You know that in the economy of Pi 
the snow and the rain are the speechk- : the 

Maker's will, to minister to the happiness of man. The one 
clothes the earth in a protecting mantle, to shelter the deli- 
cate seeds entrusted to its bosom, the i ■ pre- 
pare the earth for the occupation of the husbandman, to 
assist the seed in its process of d ■:- 3 for- 
ward the living principle, to mature and to ripen. How 
beautifully is it said by the Prophet, that when they have 
accomplished their purposes, they return to Gted again. 
again to perform the same kind office. Tor the snow melts 
away as the sun gathers his vernal strength, and with the 
rain, the still and almost imperceptible ev 
it back to the clouds, where it waits the command of God 
to fall in the gentle shower, the impetuous torrent, or : 
condensed into the virgin snow. Yeaa aftei year goes 
this process, and the promise is ■ seed to the sower and 
bread to the eater.' Hath it e~ 1! ^So shall my 
word be.' As the protecting snow upon the earth, as the 
rain upon the parched ground, as the showers that w 
earth. ; so shall my word be.' ' It shall not return unto me 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 273 

void.' When it returns, it shall be laden with the spirits 
of the vanquished enemy of man's salvation, it shall be laden 
with the testimony and the tribute of new-born souls, it 
shall carry with it the tears, and the prayers, and the praises 
of the people turned unto the Lord. ' It shall prosper in the 
things whereto I sent it.' I sent it to point out to man his 
situation as a sinner. 4 It shall prosper in the things whereto 
I sent it.' Men shall cry, ' What shalt we do to be saved V 
6 1 sent it to reveal myself as a mighty Saviour.' c It shall 
prosper in the things whereto I sent it.' Men shall turn 
their faces from the earth where they had gathered black- 
ness, and hope shall smile on their countenance of wo. ' I 
sent it to reveal the Cross, the mystery of love.' 6 It shall 
prosper in the things whereto I sent it.' Men i shall flee 
from the wrath to come.' I sent it to chase away the clouds 
and darkness which had hung on the future, and to bring 
life and immortality to light. i I sent it to place before a 
world of sinners the offers of my mercy.' I sent it to 
meliorate the condition of the most degraded of mankind, 
to change this wilderness into Canaan. ' It shall prosper in 
the things whereto I sent it.' ' The wilderness shall bud 
and blossom as the rose ; instead of the thorn shall come up 
the myrtle-tree.' Want you a better encouragement than 
this ? Why, Sir, if, generally, Bible friends were turned into 
Bible foes ; if, instead of encouragements, every thing looked 
black; if, instead of this large and brilliant assemblage in this 
great city, you were but a little band, and compelled, like 
the primitive Christians, to meet in dens and caves of the 
earth, what matters it ? Is not the Lord on your side ? Has 
not his word gone forth ? Had I nothing to cling to, I would 
lay hold on tins one promise — ' as the rain cometh down, 
and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but 
watereth the earth and maketh it bring forth and bud, that 
it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater.' And 
every time I saw the gambols of the fleecy snow, or the wise, 
12* 



274 MEMOIR OF 

steady descent of the rain-drop, I would be as free from 
doubt on this subject, as I am on another, when I sometimes 
see the beautiful bow of promise, as it reposes in all its 
majesty and splendor, on the bosom of the cloud which has 
passed away. This tells me, and do we doubt it ? that the 
waters of a flood shall no more overflow the earth ! The 
other — but need I repeat its lesson % No ! Send abroad 
the Bible then ! Be not slack ; wherever it falls it must be 
prospered, for the ' mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.' " 

If any special department of Christian beneficence seemed 
particularly dear to him, it was the education of indigent 
pious young men for the ministry of the Gospel. To this 
he devoted a large portion of his time and effort. In a pre- 
ceding extract from his sermon it has been referred to. 
But there was one aspect of this cause which gave him unal- 
loyed satisfaction. Among his own communicants there 
was an average of at least one in each year who devoted 
himself to the ministry. Of this he thus speaks in the same 
sermon : 

" But there is one branch of this subject which I take up 
with sensations of indescribable gratitude. ' Hitherto hath 
the Lord helped us,' for we have already been permitted to 
behold in the ministry of the Gospel, or in a stage of ad- 
vanced preparation, no less than ten young men, whose first 
religious impressions were here received under the preach- 
ing of the Gospel, or whose religious sensibility was here 
cherished and nourished to the subject of the ministry. Had 
God of his infinite mercy permitted this Church to do nothing 
else toward the advancement of the Redeemer's kingdom 
than this, the raising up among ourselves in ten years of ten 
young men, who are, or will be speedily, in the field of 
labor, preaching the unsearchable riches of Christ to perish- 
ing sinners, it were enough to swell the heart with gratitude 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 275 

and draw the tear of joy for so distinguishing a mercy ; for 
this will so long outlive us all, and its spiritual advantages be 
utterly incalculable. Suppose that at a very moderate cal- 
culation these ten young men are made the instruments of 
the conversion each of one hundred souls, one thousand souls 
will be saved ; and who can count the value of a single 
soul 1 But among these one thousand souls converted 
through their instrumentality, ten at least shall enter on the 
same glorious work of the ministry, and these ten shall be 
made the instrument of one thousand more conversions, and 
so must go on the series ; and then, when hundreds and 
thousands shall have been converted, and when it all can be 
traced back as the river to the fountain — to the blessing of 
God upon this Church, who can estimate the debt of gratitude 
which is due to the God who has thus helped us ? Oh, my 
friends ! the sense of God's goodness is overwhelming to a 
painful degree, and I must stop the recital. Let you and I 
take up the language of the text, as well we may, c Hitherto 
hath the Lord helped us.' " 

His interest in this important department led to a very 
efficient cooperation in the plans of the Episcopal Education 
Society, of which he was the president, for the establishment 
of a proper school for the preparatory classical education of 
students for the ministry. This school was first opened 
upon a farm purchased for the purpose near Wilmington, hi 
Delaware. But this location proving entirely too limited 
for the attainment of the object proposed, the place was sold, 
and the estate on which Bristol College is now located on 
the Delaware River, about seventeen miles above Philadel- 
phia, was purchased at a cost of 8-0,000. For this college 
a charter was obtained from the Legislature of Pennsylvania, 
and although its origin is yet so recent, the success which 
has crowned the effort has in every respect been most tri- 
umphant. Its main object is to educate pious young men 



276 MEMOIR OF 

for the ministry of the Episcopal Church, though it also 
extends the important benefits of a literary education, under 
the most direct and valuable Christian influence, to young 
men who are not studying with this view. In the establish- 
ment of this institution, Dr. Bedell was deeply interested. 
Knowing as he did its real character and inestimable import- 
ance, he considered it, and presented it to the people of his 
charge, as one of the most valuable and useful Christian 
efforts of the present age in connection with the Episcopal 
Church. It would have given him unfeigned delight, could 
he have seen the liberal and ardent interest with which it 
has since been embraced and sustained by those in the 
church who understand and value its objects. From its 
present course and prospects, it may be looked upon, with 
very great justice and reason, as likely to exercise a more 
valuable and extensive influence upon the character of the 
Episcopal Church, than any other institution which is con- 
nected with it, and the ardent desires and confident expecta- 
tions of Dr. Bedell and those who united with him in its 
establishment, promise to be even more than realized in its 
ultimate efficiency and worth. 

His deep interest in the prosperity of Bristol College* 
was affectingly displayed in a thanksgiving sermon which 
he preached in St. Andrew's, November, 1832, after the 
cessation of the cholera, from 2 Samuel 24 : 24: "Neither 
will I offer unto the Lord, of that which doth cost me 
nothing." 

From this sermon, some passages will show both his feel- 

* It is a painful memory to us, that subsequent to the writing of 

this memoir, this promising institution, from which Dr. Bedell hoped so 
much, fell into pecuniary embarrassments, the effect of which was its 
entire bankruptcy and destruction. Still, many young men were there 
educated, who are now useful and faithful in various walks of life, and 
furnish a degree of recompense to those who disinterestedly and ear- 
nestly toiled for the establishment of this unfortunate enterprize. 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 277 

ings and his plan upon this subject. His congregation have 
seconded him in their general response to the call, though 
not precisely in the definite form and way which he pointed 
out. 

" By the merciful providence of God, my friends, we are 
relieved from the ravages of a pestilence whose approach 
was anticipated with the most gloomy feelings, but whose 
actual occurrence, although marked by circumstances of 
very melancholy character, was yet modified by a mercy 
which makes the case of our city peculiar. And we are 
now assembled to render our thanksgivings to God for the 
mercy with which he has seen fit to visit us. Thanks sent 
up to heaven in words are offerings easily made. Words 
cost nothing. The sacrifice of an hour taken from the ordi- 
nary business of the world, and devoted to public worship, 
is a matter which will give even a worldly man compara- 
tively little uneasiness. But an occasion like the present, 
my friends, demands something more. Our circumstances 
are in every sense new. The pestilence with which we were 
visited was new to this country. It had been naturalized 
in Asia and the East, but we had only heard the report of 
danger, distress, and death, in sudden and aggravated forms. 
We were told of the thousands and tens of thousands cut 
down as in a moment. We bestowed little thought, and 
manifested but little sympathy, with those who were suffer- 
ing, as if the pestilence was only to be expected in the far 
distant climes, and among a people rude and filthy, and com- 
paratively uncivilized. When we found that this same pesti- 
lence had taken its onward march, and fixed its fangs upon 
Europe, we then felt more alarmed, but still we thought of 
the wide expanse of the Atlantic, and hoped either that it 
would fear to cross that mighty world of waters, or if it 
adventured a passage, it would come in forms singularly 
modified by the habits and manners of our people. In all 



278 MEMOIR OF 

these, we have been disappointed. It did cross the mighty 
ocean, and on the first spot where its foot did tread, it 
exerted a malignant influence, equaling its ravages any 
where in the world, and then it came to a sister city, carry- 
ing off, in the space of three months, if I am not mistaken, 
at least seven thousand of its inhabitants, and filling the 
hearts of the people with dismay, and making the streets to 
wear a most melancholy aspect, and giving a shock to busi- 
ness, and bringing on a series of complicated distresses. 
Then we hoped that sanitary regulations and peculiar cir- 
cumstances of a favorable character might shield our beloved 
city. But here, too, we were mistaken. It came, and in its 
period numbered with the dead more than a thousand of 
our citizens, and gave here also a shock to business enter- 
prize which it has not totally recovered. But God dealt 
with this city with peculiar mercy ; a lesser mortality, a 
lesser degree of sickness, and a speedier termination of the 
visitation, marked the dispensation among us. And now we 
are assembled to render thanksgivings to God for his j:>ecu- 
liar mercy. As I said, the language of thanksgiving is easy. 
Words cost nothing. I come to say to you that no grati- 
tude can rise to heaven which goes not up from the altar of 
the heart. But while this is my theme of continual pulpit 
exhortation, our new circumstances authorize a new method 
by which the gratitude of our hearts may be manifested. 
Shall our thanks to God for this mercy evaporate in words'? 
Shall it stop with this solemn assembling — this word of 
prayer — this song of praise ? 

" No such occasion of gratitude as the present, my friends, 
has ever been presented to your consideration. A disease 
has appeared in our country which takes the decided form 
of a visitation of the Almighty, for purposes, I trust, con- 
nected with our everlasting good. That disease came among 
you, and it passed lightly over you. No city in which 
its ravages have at all been felt, has experienced so merciful 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 279 

a relief. Its ravages were distressing, but the duration was 
comparatively short, and the number of its victims small in 
a most wonderful and extraordinary degree. Your families 
have suffered less than might have been anticipated, for it 
came in a season of the year when many were accustomed 
to be beyond the limits of the city ; your business has suf- 
fered less than might have been anticipated, for it came in a 
season in which there was always more or less stagnation. 
And how few, very few among you of this congregation, 
may be said to have suffered, either by the pestilence itself 
or any of its attendant circumstances ! Is this no call for 
some special mark of gratitude ; some peculiar offering by 
which that gratitude may be testified ] In my heart and 
conscience I believe that it is, and in the discharge of what I 
believe to be my duty both to God and to you on this occa- 
sion, I propose that this congregation, as a congregation, 
make some thank-offering to God, which shall for ever serve 
as a memorial of your gratitude for the merciful deliverance 
extended. We erect a column to the political savior of his 
country ; we inscribe on monumental marble the names of 
those who have died as the benefactors of the public. I ask 
of you some public testimonial of gratitude to God, for lives 
and property and happiness spared from the ravages of the 
pestilence which walketh in darkness and of the sickness 
that destroyeth at noon-day. I propose that some splendid 
deed of charity be done by you to commemorate this day 
of gratitude ; some institution founded or encouraged, which 
shall tell to distant generations, the grateful remembrance of 
the Church of a mercy so distinguished ; some large amount 
of property devoted to the service of God, your liberal bene- 
factor. 

" By a very singular combination of circumstances, this 
week completes the purchase of an estate, on which the 
Education Society, of which your preacher holds the respon- 
sible office of president, purposes to carry out its plans of 



280 MEMOIR OF 

extended usefulness, on the score of education. To this 
plan some of you have already been liberal, but an error 
was committed in venturing upon a scheme calculated for 
such an immense amount of good, on a location far too 
straitened. Even there, enough has been accomplished to 
convince us of the entire practicability and the amazing 
advantages of the course pursued ; but with hands compara- 
tively tied, we were continuaHy compelled to refuse applica- 
tion upon application from young men, from Georgia to 
Maine, who wished to gain for themselves the benefits of an 
enlightened education. Young men for whom we had no 
accommodation have thrown themselves into the Presby- 
terian Church ; and I received a visit a few days ago from a 
Presbyterian minister, who told me that three hundred and 
thirty young men now among them had facilities of educa- 
tion, and that unless we had some larger means, their Church 
would receive the best and most promising of our young 
men. How disastrous to our Church is the fact, that want 
of facility among us forces our young men into another 
Church ! I do want that reproach wiped away. Pained by 
these circumstances, we have felt it a duty to throw our- 
selves upon the providence of God, and we have determined 
to transfer all our arrangements from the present location, 
to one where we shall have no need of saying to any, We 
have no means to encourage you. And this very week, 
arrangements are made to get possession of a large estate of 
extraordinary accommodations, and which must be provided 
at an expense of $20,000. Never did the providence of 
God throw in your way a grander opportunity of good ; 
and I propose to you to avail yourselves of it on the 
present occasion, as an offering of thanksgiving to God for 
his peculiar mercies. What a testimony of gratitude this 
would be t" 

In the development which I have thus attempted to make 



REV. DR. BEDEXL. 281 

of Dr. Bedell's character and usefulness as a pastor, none* 
can fail of surprise, that one laboring under the burden of 
such feeble and failing health should have been able to ac- 
complish such an unusual amount of duty. His persevering 
assiduity and diligence will account for it in part. But an- 
other trait in his character which has yet been but partially 
noticed, will tend still more to explain it ; it was his large 
and benevolent spirit of enterprise and singular disinterest- 
edness. He always kept before his mind the noblest plans 
of effort for the propagation of the gospel abroad, and for its 
extension and establishment at home. His calculations and 
designs were never small. His faith laid hold of divine 
promises with much confidence, and he was persevering in 
his expectations of a good result to Christian effort, some- 
times long after the expectations of others had begun to flag 
and fail. Though so quiet and unpretending in his character 
and habits, and appearing to have so little that was sanguine 
in his temperament, his cheerful and bright anticipations 
always sustained himself and furnished encouragement and 
strength to others who were ready to sink under the power 
of despondency. Remarkably prudent and cautious, he was 
an invaluable guide in the various efforts of Christian use- 
fulness. And however extensive or difficult appeared to be 
the plan which was advocated by him, a firm reliance upon 
his judgment led others to unite in it without hesitation or 
fear. He thus threw himself wholly into the attainment of 
the object which he pursued, and without selfishness, or fear, 
or weariness in its pursuit, he rarely failed in the accom- 
plishment of his ultimate design ; though the amount of 
labor which he devoted to it was often wonderful to those 
who were unacquainted with his character and habits. He 
had unusually large conceptions of the personal duty of the 
Christian, of the sacrifices which he must make, and of the 
losses with which he must be content. Heavy pecuniary 
responsibilities and incumbrances were laid upon him through 



282 MEMOIR OF 

his whole maturity, yet he cheerfully robbed himself to do 
others service. His talents and influence were wholly con- 
secrated to the great work of doing good. All that he had, 
and all that he was, he counted as an offering unto the Lord. 
The question before his mind was never, at what bound of 
duty he might be permitted to stop, but what measure of 
usefulness it was possible for him to fill up. His feeble 
health required an indulgence of mind which he never yielded 
to it. He never held back his hand from the work of the 
Lord. And with this spirit he laid himself down in the 
mid-day of his life, wasted, exhausted, worn out, but calmly 
and watchfully waiting for his crown, and receiving his 
reward. The labors and efforts which have been thus de- 
scribed, were calculated to make a deep impression of his 
usefulness and worth upon all who knew or heard of him as 
a minister of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was considered by 
all such, a high privilege to be connected with him under 
his pastoral care, and many were yearly seeking this privi- 
lege whom the numbers previously committed to him, neces- 
sarily excluded from the advantage which they desired. 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 283 



CHAPTER X. 

Private Character — Episcopal Conventions — Domestic Belations — 
Music — Poetry. 

Before we proceed again to the current of events which 
will lead us to the termination of his life, it may be more 
proper here than in any other place to speak of Dr. Bedell 
in his private personal character as a Christian. Though 
his ministry was so distinguished and uniform, his personal 
character in the most intimate connections of life was 
entirely accordant with it. Indeed they were the peculiar 
traits of his individual character which, incorporated into 
and exhibited in the duties of his ministry, constituted the 
distinguishing excellencies of that. His whole life, both 
public and private, was remarkably equal and uniform. 
What he was seen to be at one time and in one place he 
always was — controlled by the spirit of true religion, and 
adorning the doctrine of God his Saviour. He was a man 
without professions, but singularly sincere and free from 
guile. Eetired and unassuming in his disposition, he thrust 
himself into no concerns which belonged not to him. In 
conversation always affable, but prudent and self-controlled. 
He spake evil of no man ; but would often correct the 
severe expressions in regard to absent persons in which 
others indulged, and throw in some remark of extenuation 
or excuse for faults, the existence of which he could not deny. 



284 MEMOIR OF 

There was no merit in living peaceably with him, for the 
man must have been determined indeed to wrangle, who 
could find in his society room for dissension. He partici- 
pated largely in the reproaches which, in the midst of a 
sinful world, are ready to follow active and unyielding effort 
in the cause of Christ. But he returned not evil for evil, or 
" railing for railing." In hours of deep trial, when lover 
and friend seemed to be far from him, and misrepresenta- 
tion cruelly distorted his conduct and designs, he was unex- 
cited and revengeless as a child, and seemed far more to 
mourn for the faults of others, as they would affect the cha- 
racters and interests of those who were guilty of them than 
as they were likely to bear upon his own. Amidst what- 
ever excitement he still moved quietly along ; and though 
waves dashed roughly around him, his frail bark surmounted 
their power and remained secure. 

The candor and kindness of his spirit were particularly 
manifest in his ecclesiastical and religious connections. In 
his varied intercourse with the people of his charge, many 
circumstances are present to the minds of all, as beautiful 
illustrations of this distinguishing excellence. One of 
them, who was intimately acquainted with him, thus 
writes : 

"It was his constant desire to cultivate among those 
laboring in the same cause a spirit of union and brotherly 
kindness ; all who attended the teachers' meetings can 
testify how admirably he was calculated to render them 
interesting, to soften any exhibitions of impatience or aspe- 
rity, by his own mild and gentle manners, to diffuse a tran- 
quilizing spirit all around, and to bear patiently with the 
infirmities and prejudices of others. 

" I well remember how pleasantly and happily he could 
give another turn to remarks which might have created 
unfriendly feelings ; and how delicately he reproved, on one 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 285 

occasion, at the close of the meeting, expressions of feelings 
which he deemed inconsistent with the meekness of Christ- 
ian humility, by giving out the hymn commencing thus : 

" ' Whene'er the angry passions rise, 

And tempt my thoughts and words to strife, 
To Jesus let me lift my eyes, 

Bright pattern of a Christian life.' 

" How beautifully and strikingly did he unite ' the wisdom 
of the serpent with the harmlessness of the dove ;' and how 
bright the example which he habitually set before us, of the 
charity of the Gospel. This same principle expanded itself 
in the forgiveness of injuries ; it was always his desire to 
cultivate among his flock, not only by precept but by exam- 
ple, this lively Christian grace. I remember one delight- 
ful instance, where he showed how fully he had triumphed 
over every feeling of resentment. I heard him administer 
a reproof to a female communicant for what he considered 
a deficiency in the Christian law of love ; at the same time, 
in the presence of many others, with the most child-like 
simplicity acknowledging himself to have been tempted by 
the same feelings, but having overcome them all, pointed out 
to her the way of duty. The circumstances were as follows : 
An individual was coming the next day to administer the 
communion whom the lady thought had recently insulted 
her pastor, and whom for other reasons she felt averse to ; 
but although this was the truth, he would not satisfy her 
interrogations or encourage her to stay away from the Lord's 
table on that account, but with the utmost plainness and sin- 
cerity warned her of the temptation, and advised her to 
retire to her closet, and there to pray until all such feelings 
were removed ; telling her also the true source from whence 
all such prejudices proceeded." 

In his relations to Christians of other denominations, he 



286 MEMOIR OF 

was never bigoted or exclusive in his feelings. His unhesi- 
tating convictions of truth and duty, and the warmest 
affections of his heart, hound him indeed to the Church in 
which he was a minister, and toward the extending of which 
few of his cotemporaries have done more than himself. He 
had seldom, however, preached in Philadelphia upon what 
are termed the " distinctive principles" of the Episcopal 
Church, finding so much more pressing calls for his time and 
efforts in teaching the great principles of the Gospel which 
are indispensable to man's salvation, and desiring first to 
build up his people in the acceptance and love of these. In 
omitting to such an extent the discussion of the principles 
which separate the Episcopal Church in profession from 
other denominations of Christians, he has been considered 
by many of his brethren to have erred in judgment. Con- 
sidering the circumstances in which he was placed by the 
providence of God, this is not a correct conclusion. That 
the time, however, had come when a more decided exhibi- 
tion of these points of distinction might have been desira- 
ble, when his own health failed and his ministry closed, I 
have no doubt. And this seems to have been at that time 
his own impression and plan, for he had commenced a course 
of sermons upon this class of subjects, which his failing 
health never allowed him to deliver or to complete. He 
referred to this fact in a conversation with one of his breth- 
ren in the ministry, at Bedford, but a few weeks before his 
death. That gentleman thus relates it in a letter to Mrs. 
Bedell : 

" The conversation was quite free, and turned upon the 
state of our Church separately considered, and as it stood in 
relation to other denominations of Christendom. He ob- 
served, that the situation of the latter was critical and alarm- 
ing ; that they were riven and distracted, and in a state of 
anarchy, division and degeneracy ; and that their internal 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 28? 

constitution and character did not offer promise of their im- 
proving and growing better. He thought that Episcopa- 
lians had the strongest reasons for loving and advocating 
their Church, but more especially had cause to be harmoni- 
ous and united ; that the matters which had hitherto been 
the occasion of bickerings and misunderstandings should be 
passed over and forgotten ; and our united aim and effort 
should be to preach Christ and extend the Church. He said, 
like many who thought and acted with him, he had for years 
said little on the peculiarities of our Church, but the period 
had arrived when they should be taught and preached. 
While many in their preaching had given them too much 
prominency, he had given them too little ; but the state of 
the times seemed to require it. These had now changed for 
the better, and the same foundation for difference did not 
exist. He then added, very emphatically, ' If God spares 
my life, I intend delivering a course of sermons on Episco- 
pacy this coming winter. 5 This course, he informed me, he 
had then in preparation. 

" You will recollect these remarks and many others on 
the same subject. I have given them as nearly in his own 
language as I could remember." 

Such a course of sermons from his pen would have been 
particularly valuable to the Church ; though I can not at all 
concur in the opinion, that he had been deficient in his duty 
in this respect. As certainly as it is our duty to declare 
the whole counsel of God, I concede it is our duty to declare 
the doctrines of the Scripture in regard to the Church of 
Christ. This he had done, on frequent occasions, to a suf- 
ficient extent, as he supposed, and as others around him sup- 
posed. But the duty to do this, is not more certain than 
the fact, that the Church has been much injured by the fre- 
quent indiscreet and unjust exaltation of her inferior peculi- 
arities, among or above, the greater matters of the Gospel. 



288 MEMOIR OF 

In this respect, I should desire every man to follow his own 
conviction of duty. But had Dr. Bedell's ministry in this 
respect differed from what it was, it would have been, I 
conceive, much less useful to the souls of men, and much 
less efficient in building up the Church itself, than it has 
been. In our present state of harmony and union there is 
upon this subject no controversy. All are apparently 
united in the plan to "speak concerning Christ and the 
Church." And the number is on all sides increasing among 
us, of those who, like Dr. Bedell, are determined in the 
comparison between the two, " to know nothing save Jesus 
Christ, and him crucified." 

Dr. Bedell ministered at a time when not only Christians 
of different denominations have had serious subjects of dis. 
cussion with each other, but also when within the limits of 
the Church of which he was a minister, there have been very 
prominent and marked divisions of counsel and judgment. 
It is generally remarked, that the more intimate has been 
the previous connection which has united those subsequently 
dissenting, the stronger and the more alienated is likely to 
become their reciprocal feeling after they have disagreed. 
This was never the fact with Dr. Bedell. No man could be 
more free from that which is scornfully termed the " Odium 
Theologicum." He contended with steadfastness, but with 
meekness, for what he thought important principles of truth, 
but he contended for nothing else. He delighted, too, to be 
still the minister of grace and kindness to those from whom 
he differed ; and advocated and encouraged every effort for 
the good of souls, by whomsoever it was originated and di- 
rected. In all the trials through which the Episcopal Church 
passed in the time during which he ministered in it, Dr. 
Bedell was uniformly a peace-maker, and all his desires and 
efforts were on the side of harmony, mutual concession, and 
love. Better evidence of this fact could hardly be given, 
than in some extracts from the Philadelphia Recorder, a 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 289 

paper of which he was the editor, during the time of the 
most serious division which perhaps has ever marked any 
portion of the Episcopal Church in the United States ; the 
subject of which was the election of an Assistant Bishop 
for the diocese of Pennsylvania. I refer to this question 
and the feeling which it excited, simply to display the 
unvarying kindness and disposition for peace, by which 
the subject of the present memoir was distinguished, even 
in this most exciting and trying season, in all his ecclesias- 
tical relations. Previously to the meeting of the Diocesan 
Convention, in which this agitating question was to be set- 
tled, he thus wrote, under the editorial head of the Recorder, 
May 5, 1827: 

" Convention.— hi the course of the next week the 
Annual Convention of this diocese will be assembled at 
Harrisburg. The friends of the Episcopal Church in Penn- 
sylvania have long watched the preparations that have been 
making for this event. It is evident that each party is act- 
ing upon principle ; that each considers the prosperity of 
the Church and of religion intimately connected with the 
success of its exertions, and that they will repair to the place 
of their assembling with a determination to use all lawful 
means for the accomplishment of purposes which must to 
each appear immeasurably important. Nor do we see in 
this any thing to excite surprise or occasion censure. Such 
are the infirmities of human nature, that large bodies of men 
can never be expected to unite harmoniously in all their 
sentiments on any subject, however simple and elementary. 
Although the fact may be attended with inconvenience, and 
on some accounts, perhaps, be a source of very legitimate 
regret, yet it ought to be made productive of some good. 
It should teach us moderation and humility ; humility as it 
respects our own tendency to err, and moderation in refer- 
ence to the sentiments of others. The lesson which it pre- 
1 ° 



290 MEMOIR OF 

sents to such as are subordinate in life, is that of modest 
respect for the opinions of those who are superior. To 
superiors it must ever hold out a solemn warning against 
the danger of pressing too hard upon those minor peculiari- 
ties in which men may always "be expected conscientiously 
to differ from each other. 

" The dissensions by which this diocese has been more 
recently excited, have occasioned sincere regret in all the 
lovers of harmony and peace." 

" We sincerely hope that the Convention which is about 
assembling at Harrisburg will settle all our controversies, 
and produce harmony amongst us. There can be no pros- 
pect of this until the Assistant Bishop shall be elected. So 
long as the strength of the diocese remains thus equally di- 
vided by an object which each party flatters itself with the 
expectation of being able to obtain, we shall be constantly 
harassed by the pamphleteering explosions with which all 
who love decency and order have of late been so excessively 
annoyed. It is far better — better for the Church and better 
for the world around her ; better for those who shall be dis- 
appointed in the contest, as well as for those who may be 
destined to succeed, that the thing should at once be de- 
finitely settled. 

" We hope, then, that our brethren will repair to the place 
appointed, with spirits entirely composed. Let their work 
be commenced at. a throne of grace. Let them go to it like 
men who feel that Providence has called them to participate 
in the most important transaction which has ever taken 
place in the American Episcopal Church ; that the destiny 
of immortal souls, — thousands who surround them now, and 
millions who are yet unborn, have probably been suspended 
on the proceedings of that assembly. And while their 
minds shall be overshadowed by these solemn thoughts, 
their deliberations will be characterized by a fearless modera- 
tion, a chastened firmness, a dignified composure, which be- 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 291 

come those on whom such elevated responsibilities have de- 
volved. Let all unkindness towards the brethren with 
whom they differ be banished from their bosoms. Let all 
harsh and violent expressions be at once discountenanced. 
They are both unworthy of men who are engaged in a cause 
so holy, and whose duty as well as interest it is to march 
forward, with a serene and steady purpose, to the consum- 
mation of their hopes. Let the friends of the gospel who 
are spectators of this contest be every where engaged in fre- 
quent and fervent supplication to Him who ruleth the hearts 
of men, that his truth may prosper, and 'his will be done on 
earth as it is in heavem' " 

The result of this Convention was adverse to the views 
and wishes of Dr, Bedell. His meek and Christian spirit, 
however, immediately accorded with the manifest will of 
God, and entered upon a course of conciliating conduct, from 
which he was never known subsequently to swerve. In the 
Recorder of the week subsequent to the Convention, he 
says : — 

4i Our readers, no doubt, expect that we should give a de- 
tailed account of the proceedings of the late Convention at 
Harrisburg; and we regret to state, that their reasonable ex- 
pectations will, in some measure, be disappointed. By an 
afflictive dispensation of Providence, under which we had 
been suffering for the last four weeks, we were prevented 
from taking any active part whatever in the proceedings of 
the Convention ; and as we attended none of the preparatory 
meetings, and were but twice in the Convention itself, it is 
impossible that from our personal observation we should 
say any thing. 

" Our readers are of course aware, that the question of an 
Assistant Bishop terminated in the election of the Rev. 
Henry U. Onderdonk, of Brooklyn, N. Y. The question 



292 MEMOIR OF 

is settled; and after a quiet statement of the case, it 
becomes the portion of the clergy and laity defeated to sub- 
mit. As it regards the result of the election, we find our- 
selves personally placed in circumstances of some delicacy, 
as we have been for many years in habits of intimacy with 
the newly-elected assistant, and have always entertained 
sentiments toward him of great respect. "While, then, we 
deeply and sincerely regret the election brought about under 
such circumstances, we wish it to be distinct] y understood, 
that our objection is to the maimer in which the election was 
accomplished. This we speak in our own name, wishing to 
guard our readers against any opinion that we are in the 
least degree acting as the organ of our brethren. What 
views they may generally entertain on any of these matters, 
we have not learned, neither has the state of our health been 
such as to enable us to make inquiry. 

" That the diocese is most lamentably divided, none can 
question : and that none but a person of the most conciliat- 
ing qualities can expect to heal the divisions, is a matter be- 
yond all doubt. We have heard that it was remarked by 
Bishop Hobart, who was on a visit in Lancaster, during the 
session of the Convention in Harrisburg, that the Eev. Mr. 
Onderdonk was a person well qualified to produce tins de- 
sirable object. From the long and intimate connection 
which has existed between Bishop Hobart and the Rev. Mr. 
Onderdonk, we apprehend that he is one of the best judges 
on this subject, and that his opinion is deserving of the 
greatest weight. A mild and conciliating course is the only 
one to be pursued likely to produce any tiling but discontent 
and opposition. That a mild and conciliating course may 
be pursued, is our earnest wish and prayer. 5 ' 

x % % * "Aft er this, we hope to be enabled to settle down 
in quietness. The one party have accomplished their ob- 
ject — the other are defeated. We look upon the reverse 
with which the Evangelical cause has met. as one calling for 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 293 

submission and humiliation under the mighty hand of God. 
As to the ultimate success of the cause, we have not the 
shadow of a doubt. We would not have identified ourselves 
with it, but on grounds of the clearest conviction, and we 
have observed nothing in the history of the Church for the 
last ten years, but what confirms us in the opinion that the 
advancement of that cause cannot be materially retarded. 
Our council is, that our friends be quiet and submissive 
under the dispensation, looking upon it as one of those pro- 
vidences, the reason of which we cannot see, but the result 
of which cannot be otherwise than good, for ' God reigns.' 
Controversy we wish to avoid. In all this turmoil which 
has distracted the diocese, and the whole effect of which has 
been injurious, we have permitted ourselves to have but 
little concern ; and to have as little to do as possible with the 
controversy now, is our determination." 

It is not my province to express any judgment whatever 
upon the subject of this painful division in the Church. But 
it cannot fail to be interesting to every Christian to see the 
spirit of uniform candor and kindness in the midst of all its 
exciting circumstances, which was displayed by one who 
was placed, by the providence of God, so prominently before 
the public eye as was Dr. Bedell. In comiection with the 
above extracts, I subjoin a letter of his to Mr. Henderson, 
in reference to the Convention of the diocese of Pennsylva- 
nia in 1829, which displays, on a subsequent occasion con- 
nected with the same circumstances, the same delightful 
spirit in him. 

"Philadelphia, May 26, 1829. 

"My Dear Friend, 

"I have so much to say, that I hardly know where to 
begin ; and when I once begin, I can hardly conceive where 
I shall be able to stop. Our Convention, which of course 
must be the prominent topic, lasted until Saturday, and to 



2*94 . MEMOIR OF 

the amazement of all. and the gratification of those wishing 
best to the interest of the Church, ended with a cessation of 
hostilities, and I trust the commencement of a reign of peace, 
at least for some time. The whole course of the conven- 
tional proceedings seemed to be remarkably controlled by 
the providence of God ; and the part which I acted towards 
conciliation, seemed rather dictated to me by that Provi- 
dence, than to be any impulse of my own. In relation to 
my own course of conduct, seeing a disposition like conci- 
liation, I determined to contribute my share towards so 
auspicious a result, and for this purpose offered a resolution 
relating to the General Missionary Society. I will give you 
the substance, and I believe mostly the very words which I 
used. 

" On offering the resolution, I said, c I have two reasons 
for offering this resolution. 1. Because I feel as if I had 
not discharged my duty to the General Missionary Society. 
It is true that I have been withheld from this by the con- 
fessed defects in its organization, which, in my opinion, had 
a tendency to neutralize all its usefulness. But the spirit 
manifested at the late annual meeting of the Board of 
Directors, and the nature of the alterations then proposed, 
have satisfied my mind, and while this state of things exists, 
I shall give it my cordial support. 

"'My second reason, Mr. President, is, because I wish 
to see that pleasant sight, not witnessed in this Convention 
for the last three years, an unanimous vote. I wish to see a 
question taken in which party can have no concern. I am 
free to confess, for myself, that I have acted as a party-man. 
If I could think of the individual in this Convention who 
had not, I should look upon him as one raised above the 
ordinary infirmities of humanity. I mean to make no impu- 
tations, but I must be permitted to recall to the memory of 
the Convention, the saying of our Saviour, " Those eighteen 
upon whom the tower of Siloam fell and slew them, think 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 295 

ye that they were sinners above all that dwelt in Jerusa- 
lem V] And I would be permitted to add this remark and 
exhortation : " I tell you nay, but except ye repent, ye shall 
all likewise perish." 

"'To Low Church principles I ever must, and I ever 
hope to be attached, and to maintain them through evil and 
through good report. But maintaining these principles, I 
hope hereafter to be able to do it, not as a party-man. I 
have felt the evil of this thing in the overthrow of Christian 
charity. I believe that the cause of religion has been injured, 
and so far as I have in any wise been concerned, I deplore 
it. If in the heat of party controversy I have said or writ- 
ten any thing which has wounded the feelings, or been inju- 
rious to any one, I ask that it may be attributed to the heat 
of party controversy, and this expression of regret be 
received in the spirit in which it is tendered. 

" 'I hope, Sir, that no evil construction will be put upon 
these remarks. If any clergyman in this city can stand in 
an independent situation, I feel that I am entitled so to stand. 
With an undivided congregation, such as statedly worships 
in this church,* and which, with an almost unparalleled 

* " The Convention was held in St. Andrew's Church. In regard to 
the harmony of this congregation, Dr. Bedell says, in his anniversary 
sermon, already repeatedly quoted : * We have reason to say, Hitherto 
hath the Lord helped us, when we consider the fact that there has 
been an unbroken harmony in all the departments of our church. 
There never yet has been a question which has divided the rector and 
the vestry, the vestry and the congregation, or the congregation itself. 
Even in that disastrous time of high excitement which was connected 
with the election of an Assistant Bishop, though there were differ- 
ences of opinion between some few, there were no alienations of affec- 
tion, except in the case of one or two individuals, and on the whole, 
where it could have been but little expected, we exhibited the spectacle 
of a very strikingly unired congregation, so much so, that your minister 
remembers at the Convention held in this church, when the matters in 
controversy were happily adjusted, he was enabled to state, in a public 



296 MEMOIR OF 

affection, have clung to me through the perils, and dangers, 
and reproaches of the last three years: while God shall bless 
me. I fear no man's frown, and I ask no man's patronage. 
But. Sir, were my circumstances different, I should pursue 
the same course, and make the same avowal. What I say 
is the genuine dictate of my feelings ; and while I mean, by 
the help of God, to maintain my principles^ I am ready to 
make almost any sacrifice to win back to this distracted 
diocese the angel Charity, so that reproach may no longer 
be poured on the cause which I hope we all love, though 
with differences of opinion as to the best course by which 
that cause is to be advanced. Let those differences be 
entertained, they need not destroy Christian love. It is 
with this spirit, Sir, that I submit this resolution. As I 
shall vote on it, divested of all party feelings, so may all : 
and I hope hereafter, for one. to be able to maintain the 
same elevated ground, and only bear my part in the legis- 
lation of the diocese, under the influence of the motto, Pro 
Deo, pro ecclesia.pro homininn salute? 

" You can hardly imagine the sensation made by this 
address. Tears were abundant, and pleasure apparently 
universal. Montgomery seconded my resolution, and fol- 
lowed by a speech of the same import. He afterwards 
came and took me by the hand, almost without the power 

of speaking God grant that the harmony may be 

perfect and permanent ! 

. address before that body, tliat for the three years of trouble in which 
we had been involved, he had been sustained by the affection of an 
united congregation. So far as the congregation itself is concerned, no 
questions of collision, to his knowledge, have ever arisen. If in any 
departments of our extended organization, differences of opinion on 
points of policy connected with the church have been found to exist, 
they have always given way to a desire for the general benefit and the 
will of the majority. He does not know that there is at this moment 
any Question existing which is calculated to interrupt the general har- 
mony. In these respects, the Lord has wonderfully helped us. ; " 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 297 

"I am now greatly fatigued by writing, and I shall 
close." .... 

The only remaining occasion on which he ever spoke in 
the Convention was in 1834, but three months before his 
departure. He had been unjustly and unkindly accused in 
the Protestant Episcopalian, a periodical paper, of being 
governed by a party spirit, in contradiction to his former 
professed determinations, in his efforts for the establishment 
of Bristol College. Though he had been manifestly sinking 
in health for some months, and at this time was by medical 
direction confined to his house, he resolved, at any sacrifice 
of personal comfort, to throw off from his character this 
unfounded imputation. I witnessed the solicitude with 
which his family entreated him to remain at home, and the 
earnest determination with which their solicitations were 
resisted. I saw him also, as he advanced slowly and feebly 
from a pew in St. Andrew's Church, in which the Conven- 
tion was assembled, to tlie chancel, and with a countenance 
pallid as death, with hardly strength to stand upon the floor, 
but with a thrilling and earnest manner, addressed himself 
to the Convention. He offered a resolution of respect to 
the memory of Rev. Dr. Montgomery, rector of St. Ste- 
phen's Church, Philadelphia, referred to in the preceding 
letter, who had deceased but two months previous. He 
alluded to his address, made on the very spot on which he 
then stood, five years before, in support of a resolution 
which Dr. M. had seconded ; to the pledge of conciliation 
and peace which he had then given, and solemnly declared 
that his feelings were still the same, and that in no plan or 
action had he ever deviated from the course which he then 
marked out for himself. His strength and voice failed, and 
he was unable to finish the statement which he was desirous 
of making, and closing abruptly his brief address, he imme- 
diately left the house, to see his brethren thus assembled no 
13* 



298 memoir or 

more. His last effort in the affairs of the church was, what 
all his previous exertions had been, for the promotion of 
kindness, harmony, and peace. O that he might be imi- 
tated in this lovely trait by all who survive him ! When 
shall the time arrive that Christians with united feeling and 
mutual confidence shall devote to the common cause of 
truth against error and sin, the time and power which they 
now waste in watching and guarding against the suicidal 
conflicts of partisan warfare % This dear brother in Christ 
has found in heaven the harmony which he labored so much 
to produce upon the earth. And how does that one song, 
one company, and one service, put to shame the fretful col- 
lisions of fallen men ! There is order and peace in heaven ; 
O that it might be so also upon the earth ! 

After the above reference to Dr. Montgomery, the reader 
will be interested in the following extracts from a sermon of 
Dr. Bedell's, preached on the 23d of March, 1834, the Sun- 
day after the funeral of Dr. M. A few months afterward, 
his own race was finished, and both, it is hoped, have entered 
together into the joy of the Lord. 

" It is right and proper, that on this occasion, I should at 
least briefly allude to the circumstance of a death which last 
week separated all the earthly ties which had united a pastor 
to his people* There are several peculiar reasons why it is 
becoming in me to offer some few remarks on the melan- 
choly subject to which I allude. The Church over which 
my deceased brother was called to preside, started into being 
at the same time as that in which we are now assembled. 
My departed brother and myself commenced, as it were, our 
course together ; and under the smiles of the same benignant 
Providence, the Churches have grown together, both to con- 
ditions of temporal and spiritual prosperity ; the measure of 
which will be judged by different people differently. It was 
supposed in their origin, that there was not room for both, 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 299 

and consequently that neither would be prosperous. We 
have lived to witness the futility of this prophecy, and now 
others are rising according to the demand for accommoda- 
tion, and there is room for more. 

" It were as unwise as it would be useless, to conceal the 
fact, that on many matters touching the subjects of ecclesias- 
tical polity and policy, my departed brother and myself held 
opinions somewhat different from each other. On subjects 
touching the vital matters connected with salvation, there 
was not, I would hope, any essential difference. There was 
a difference in the statement of gospel doctrines, perhaps not 
affecting the essential matter, but only the results. But even 
in those perilous times through which the Church in this 
diocese was compelled to pass, I am not aware that there 
was on either side, a spirit of personal unkindness or re- 
proach. 

" But these things have passed away, and for many years 
we have worked together in the various institutions of the 
Church ; and 1 delight to bear my testimony to the fact of 
the zeal, and energy, and determination of purpose with 
which he pursued the plans which he deemed essential to 
the prosperity of our Zion. There was an openness and 
candor even in his opposition, which could not but excite the 
most decided respect ; and there was a warmth in his attach- 
ments, worthy of all admiration. As to his relations as a 
pastor, I have no means of forming a judgment ; but from 
my knowledge of the man, have no hesitation in believing 
that they were sustained with the same zeal, and energy, 
and fidelity of purpose which characterized all his efforts. 
That he was deeply anxious for the welfare of the people of 
his charge, I know ; for many a time and oft we have spoken 
together on the difficulties and discouragements of the pas- 
toral office, and mourned over the comparatively small re- 
sults even of the most self-sacrificing labors. But I am in 
danger of going beyond the line I had marked out. I stated 



300 :oir of 

that my deceased brother and myself here started in the race 
together; his were prospects of running that race much 
longer than I myself had; and especially for the last six 
i s 3 who would have supposed that his course would have 
been finished and my feeble thread not yet quite run out ? 
How mysterious are the ways of God ! one is taken and 
another left. He has gone to his rest, having left a most 
glorious testimony of his personal interest in the salvation 
of the gospel ; and his friends may well be cheered, tor he 
now sleeps in Jesus. When the will of God shall be accom- 
plished, and your preacher, my friends, shall be laid on his 
bed of death, may he be enabled to bear a similar testimony 
to the grace of God in Christ Jesus ; and at the general re- 
surrection, may Ave be found together among the white-robed 
throng of God's elect/' 

In the private domestic relations of Dr. Bedell, his cha- 
racter shone with inviting loveliness. His children knew 
no love to any earthly object like that winch they felt for 
their father, and feared nothing so much as a frown or reproof 
from him. The servants in his family regarded him with 
peculiar reverence, as something even above the character 
of man. In his domestic circle, the peculiar quality which 
he exhibited was retired humility. He talked but little 
habitually, yet always cheerfully and instructively. He sat 
much in silent study around his fire-side, and was not easily 
disturbed. When riding once with his children, as he fre- 
quently did. after no unusual s i his part, he remark- 
ed to them. " There, my children, while you have been 
amusing yourselves with talking. I have prepared a sermon 
for my people, and I shall lay it away with others in my 
.store-house, till it is convenient to write it out." The inter- 
est which he felt in his children, especially in regard to their 
most important concerns, was like all his other feelings, 
deep and operative. The following extracts from some let- 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 301 

ters to his only son, then a boy at the Flushing Institute, 
will exhibit proofs of his state of mind, as connected with 
the permanent welfare of this son : — 

"Philadelphia, January 12th, 1831. 
" My Dear Sox, 

" Your last letter afforded great gratification to your dear 
mother and myself. We were glad because you seem to be 
making good progress in your studies, and above all, be- 
cause we have some hopes that you are striving to walk in 
the ways of God. Nothing could give your father and 
mother greater delight, than to know that their beloved and 
only son was growing up to be a child of God. It would be 
of little consequence to us to have you a great or a learned 
man, if we should find you careless about God, and indiffer- 
ent to the salvation of your own soul. What we want you 
to be, and what we most sincerely pray that you may be, 
is a good man, loving and serving God. Then shall we be 
sure that you will be happy, both here and hereafter. I 
should be very much pleased if you would write to me on 
the subject of your feelings as to religion. Perhaps I should 
be able to say something that might be of advantage to 
you. In relation to all other matters, your mother, and aunt, 
and cousins will write, for they have more time than I 
have." 

" Philadelphia, November 1st, 1831. 
'• My Dear Sox, 

" I have just learned from Mr. E. that he is going on to 
Flushing with Horace, and have time only to say a few 
words. Your dear mother will write somewhat more at 
length. I am exceeding happy to find that you reached the 
school safely, and are now once more in your comfortable 
and contented situation. Your whole conduct at home 
afforded me great gratification, and I shall be truly happy if 
your great motive and desire, shall become the love of God. 



302 MEMOIR OF 

Do, my precious boy, remember, that without a change of 
heart and a true faith in Christ, there is no happiness here 
or hereafter, and that now is your time, in your early days, 

to begin to live for God. My respects to Mr. M . 

u Your affectionate Father." 

"Woodlands, June 16th, 1832. 
" My Dear Son : 

" I received your letter yesterday, and now that I have 
a few moments' leisure, I sit down to answer it. In the first 
place, I desire to put your mind at rest as to my own wishes 
concerning your continuance at the Institute. It is my 
deliberate opinion, that there is no place in our country in 
which you could be so favorably situated, and if God should 
enable me to do it, I w T ish to have the gratification of seeing 
your education thoroughly accomplished there. If there 
should be a necessity for your going to college, it is a 
matter which I wish to put off as long as possible. In these 
views your dear mother most heartily joins me. 

" Now I will tell you how all the family yesterday were 
mercifully preserved. Just before tea there came up a 
thunder-storm, and the house was struck twice, and a large 
tree also shivered to pieces within twenty feet of the win- 
dow. We had just risen from tea when the first tremen- 
dous crash passed down the lightning-rod on the east end of 
the house ; the second crash, about two minutes after, struck 
the tree, (a beautiful honey-locust,) and shivered it in two 
streams from top to bottom, throwing the bark for fifty 
yards, and breaking seven large panes of glass, filling the 
house with a sulphurous smell. The third crash passed 
down the lightning-rod on the west side of the house, com- 
pletely melting a new platina point ; yet, in God's mercy, 
no one was hurt." 

" I have no doubt that you have been very much disap- 
pointed, that we have not been able to pay you a visit this 



REV. DR. EEDELL. 303 

season. The state of my health has been the reason. I am 
looking forward with great pleasure to the period of exami- 
nation, when I hope all the family will be able to be present. • 
After the examination I propose to take you, with dear 
mother and Lilly, in the new dearborn, and travel about 
three or four weeks. But all these things are contingent. 
We have to say, 'If the Lord will, we will do this or that.' 

" I am truly delighted at your advancement, though I do 
not remember how many degrees higher you now are than 
was mentioned in your last report. Do not fail to pursue 
your studies with the utmost assiduity. Pray to God to 
give you both the disposition and the ability to improve by 
your present advantages. I trust you are obeying the 
injunction, ' Seek first the kingdom of God and his righte- 
ousness.' 

"As to the rail-road to Germantown, I have not yet seen 
it since it was finished. I understand that hundreds ride on 
it every day, but there is a very dreadful profanation of the 
Lord's day, as they keep the cars running all the time." 

"June 18th. — And now I have something else to tell you, 
which I think will be likely to be very interesting. Your 
cousin has been lately ordained, and is about to take the 
station of my assistant. He preached for us yesterday morn- 
ing, and gave universal satisfaction. He is a remarkably 
fine young man, and an excellent preacher. Nothing would 
be more grateful to my feelings than the idea, that at some 
future day you would be prepared for the high and respon- 
sible duties of the ministry. But this is a matter which at 
present I hardly dare to indulge myself in reflecting upon, as 
no one ought ever to think upon the subject of the ministry 
who does not know that he has decidedly given himself up 
to the love and service of God. My dear boy, what is the 
state of your heart at present ? I know that your mind has 
been tender on this subject, but very little has been said in 
your late letters. Can vou enter into self-examination, and 



304 MEMOIR OF 

persuade yourself that you have given your heart to God ? 
I hope that you are still deeply interested in the concerns 
of serious personal religion. When you write, tell me all 
about your daily habits of religion. Do you pray regularly 
morning and evening ? Do you regularly read the Scrip- 
tures privately ? Do you love to attend public worship ? 
Do you go to any prayer-meeting ? Your parents will be 
much more delighted to hear something said on these sub- 
jects, than on any about which you write, for their chief 
desire and prayer is, that the Lord may take you for his 
child, and so give you his grace, as that your heart may be 
completely devoted to him. Every night and morning 
your dear mother and myself, in our united prayers, make 
our beloved children the subjects of our most earnest suppli- 
cations, and I hope that to our prayers you will add your 
own. 

" I see that I have written you a very long letter. Now 
you must write to me soon. We are all well. Dear Lilly 
is skipping about like a little lamb, and talks very much of 
'bub.' I hope the Lord in mercy may spare us all to meet 
next month. 

"My respects to Mr. M., and I remain, 

" Your affectionate Father." 

" Philadelphia, Feb. 1, 1833. 
" My Dear Son : 

" Your mother, aunt and myself, were very much delighted 
with your last letter, and as I have a few moments' leisure 
in consequence of the state of the weather, I have determined 
to send you a few lines. We are all very much gratified 
with the accounts we hear, and hope that you will be most 
earnest and persevering in your studies. Now is certainly 
your time to lay in a stock of learning, which may enable 
you, by the blessing of God, to follow some profession, or 
otherwise to provide for your support when arrived at years 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 305 

when young men take care of themselves. It would delight 
me beyond all measure, and it is my earnest prayer to God, 
that your mind may be steadily fixed upon the ministry of 
the everlasting Gospel ; but this you must not touch till you 
are thoroughly convinced that you have experienced a change 
of heart and are ready to dedicate and devote yourself 
entirely to the love and service of God. Much as it -would 
conduce to my happiness to know that your mind does 
direct its attention to this subject, I could never consent to 
your taking upon yourself such a responsibility, unless upon 
a very clear impression of a call from God, and a thorough 
spiritual qualification. There is one way, my darling son, 
of settling every matter which may concern your future life, 
and it is by never resting satisfied till you have entirely 
given up your heart to the precious Saviour, and this is 
essential to your present happiness, no matter to what con- 
dition of life you may direct your attention; and this is 
essential to every hope of future happiness. Persevere, my 
dear boy, in the discharge of your religious duties, but 
do not rest satisfied with the mere discharge of duties. 
Unless the heart is given to God, there is no delight 
and no profit in religious duties. You state in your 
letter to your dear mother, that you are troubled with 
wandering thoughts. Do you strive and pray against 
these'? Remember, there is no sin in the mere fact of 
being tempted, but there is sin in yielding to temptation. 
Try to fix your thoughts ; pray earnestly that God would 
be with you to arrest your thoughts, but never be dis- 
couraged : go on, and if your heart is right with God, you 
will find that you shall eventually succeed. Our family 
news is very scarce. I have been somewhat better this 
winter, most probably owing to the mild character of the 
season. Your dear little sister also, I think, is in better 
health. I believe she has written you a line. I have 
preached a sermon to young men which is now publishing, 



306 MEMOIR OF 

and when it is out 1 will try to send you a copy. There 
were no less than twelve hundred young men present. No 
females were allowed in the body of the Church. His - 
last Sunday evening. 

" You see. my darling, that I have filled up the paper ; it 
shows you how much pleased I am with your 
gress. May the Lord bless and keep you. 

" Your affectionate Fath 

Such a parent was a peculiar blessing ( "mldren. 

Around his fireside harmony and love always reigned, 
religion of the gospel was exalted to its - do- 

mestic arrangements. Piety unfeigned and undoul I go- 
verned his most private concerns. And he has dep:o 
with every reasonable ground of hope, not only thai 
memory, example, and influence shall live after him. but tl 
they whom God gave him, shall be guided als 
the same steps. 

The following letter to his sister, on the death of his fa- 
ther, shows that this affectionate spirit was not confine 
its operation to his more intimate circle. 

" The intelligence of the death of our dear 
just reached me. I cannot say that I am surprised by 
intelligence, for your late letters have led me to supj 
that he could not long continue. I: is a source of the richest 
consolation for us to know that our loss is his eternal gain ; 
for I think no one. who is acquainted as yon b the 

tenor of his life, and especially with the continued dev; fcion : i 
his latter years, can doubt of his eternal inhei itan : e : g 
He has exchanged a life of suffering for one of enjoyment, 
and through the merits of the Saviour, in whom he trnste ;".. 
is now numbered among the saints in glory. To you. my 
dear sisters, especially, the deprivation is great ; 
infirmities have so long demanded your zealous and perse- 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 307 

vering and affectionate attentions, and you will feel the loss 
of those employments in which you have been so long en- 
gaged ; employments which derived all their gratification 
from the circumstance that they were directed to soothe and 
soften the declining years of a parent, bowed down under 
the infirmities of age and sickness. Apart from the mere 
feelings of nature, it is impossible for us to grieve : for we 
have known that our father has for more than a year had no 
enjoyment of life, and we have his own words for it that he 
felt no fears of death ; we sorrow not, therefore, as those 
who have no hope. Let it be our aim to seek an inherit- 
ance in the same heavenly kingdom, and then, when we 
meet our father again, it will be to be no more separated. 
It would have been a great source of comfort to me, could 
I at least have been able to have attended the funeral, but I 
was at a distance from home, preaching in the country, and 
no letter could have reached me in time. I am afraid that 
it will not be in my power to come to you under a week or 
two, owing to my present indisposition, and the cold change 
in the weather. As to your future prospects, give your- 
selves no uneasiness. While God spares my life, and gives 
me the opportunity of providing for you, you shall never 
want. At this moment, if any thing is necessary, call upon 

Mr. — , and he will furnish whatever you desire. 

" Your affectionate Brother, 

u G. T. Bedell." 

In connection with Dr. Bedell's private character, which 
has been thus delineated, we ought not to omit a notice of 
his love and his talents for music. This contributed in a 
high degree to his own enjoyment and to the happiness of 
others in his house. Mr. Henderson has so well described 
this power in his friend, in the following extract of a letter 
from him to the editor, that it may be unnecessary to do 



308 MEMOIR OF 

more than to present his language as a description of what 
he had himself for so long a time seen and known. 

" Dr. Bedell, it is well known, was remarkably fond of 
music. It formed indeed the principal recreation of his 
leisure hours. Being in possession of a very superior parlor 
organ, he was able at all times to indulge his taste. But in 
this, as in every thing else, his aim was to glorify his Father 
in heaven. Music he ever regarded as the hand-maid of 
religion. No one regretted more deeply its unholy alliance 
with the vanities of a sinful world, as it appeared in many 
of the fashionable songs of the day ; and. it was ever an 
important subject with him to sever this unnatural union. 

"As an evidence of the interest that he felt on this subject, 
it may be observed that he conceived, and, with the assist- 
ance of Mr. Thomas Loud, the organist of his Church, 
executed to some extent, a plan, the direct tendency of which 
was to correct the evil so much deplored. Under their 
auspices a work was issued, called 'Lyricse Sacrse,' which 
was designed to contain the most popular airs, arranged for 
the piano forte, and adapted to words, if not strictly sacred, 
yet calculated to excite no other emotions than such as were 
accordant with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Several 
numbers of this work were issued, and are now wxll known 
to the religious public. In one of them is contained a 
parody on Heber's celebrated verses, ' I see them on their 
winding way,' written by Dr. B. himself. 

" It were natural also to suppose that music, as connected 
with the public worship of God, would engross a consider- 
able share of his attention, and accordingly we find him ac- 
tively engaged in endeavors to bring it here to the utmost 
possible perfection. It was his custom to meet with the 
choir, on which occasions I have sometimes accompanied 
him, and by his presence, advice, and active participation* 
he promoted the objects of their meeting, always closing the 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 309 

exercises himself by asking for them in prayer the blessing 
of God. It was customary also with Dr. Bedell, for many 
years, to associate music in a very delightful manner with 
the devotional exercises of his family. Frequently, while an 
inmate of his family, the first sound. I have heard after awak- 
ing in the morning, was the swelling tones of the organ, 
under his touch, as a prelude to the exercise of family wor- 
ship. It was, I believe, originally for such occasions that he 
composed several airs, adapted to the hymns of the Church, 
that found their way afterwards to the public, and have 
alreadv been sung in several churches. I have been, in- 
duced to refer to one of these, from the interesting circum- 
stance with which it was connected. Some time prior to Dr. 
Bedell's last visit to Newark, he had, at the request of my 
sister, sent her a copy of the air, and it had been used on 
several occasions by the choir of the Church. On the occa- 
sion of his visit, it was sung immediately after the sermon, 
to Ins evident surprise and gratification, and produced, as 
might well be imagined — the author being generally known 
— a most powerful effect upon the audience. Immediately 
after the service, when he had returned to my house, and 
was reclining upon the sofa, some remark was casually made 
in regard to the maimer of its performance — -he observed, 
that there had been a slight mistake, and rose at once to 
play it upon a piano forte in the room. The feeling and 
expression with which he then played, I have never heard 
excelled. It was the last time. 

" The words to which he adapted the air were those of 
that beautiful hymn, — 

" ' Rock of ages cleft for me, 
Let me hide myself in thee.' 

" Connected with Dr. B.'s extraordinary taste and fond- 
ness for music, is a circumstance, which, though trivial in 
itself, is yet calculated strikingly to illustrate the noble rate* 



310 MEMOIR OF 

grity of his Christian character. He had taken an active 
interest in the operations of the Society attached to the Mu- 
sical Fund Hall, and had frequently attended its Concerts of 
Sacred Music with satisfaction and delight. His presence 
there, however, gave offence to some of his religious connec- 
tions. The circumstance reached the ears of Dr. B. His 
resolution was taken at once, and upon a suitable occasion 
soon after, it was publicly avowed. He stated what he had 
heard, and what were his own views, and concluded by de- 
claring his decided purpose never to enter again with similar 
intent the walls of that building, quoting, in his own peculiar 
and emphatic manner, the language of the Apostle, (1 Cor. 
viii. 13.) 'Wherefore if meat make my brother to offend, 
I will eat no flesh while the world standeth.' Thus did he 
become 'all things to all men, that he might by all means 
save some.' " 

The fondness of Dr. Bedell for music, and his peculiar 
talent for its execution, is further described in the following 
communication, from one who was long associated with him 
in tins peculiar connection : — 

" I could detail many of those characteristic facts which 
came under my notice, but however interesting they might 
be in my own private estimation, I fear they are not such as 
would interest the general reader, who, in a biography of an 
eminently good and great man, looks for facts and incidents 
more striking and prominent than could be expected to be 
elicited by an intercourse which, though social and familiar, 
was necessarily a general one. 

" His fondness for music was well known. Indeed, he 
might almost be deemed, an enthusiast in this delightful sci- 
ence. As a necessary consequence, his attachment to his 
choir was singularly strong and unabated, and I think some 
of the most pleasant of his earthly moments were passed 
at the meetings of the choir. 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 311 

" He never failed to attend these meetings when his 
health would permit, and he has frequently rode to and from 
the place of meeting when the state of weather or his health 
was thought sufficient to deter him from ivalking. As his 
health declined, the place of meeting, which at first was 
alternately at his own house and the houses of the members, 
was permanently fixed at his own. There, seated near his 
organ, or, in the absence of his organist, officiating himself, 
he has frequently said that he experienced more satisfaction 
and delight than he could have hoped to enjoy on this side 
the grave. 

"That his enjoyment of music arose from a correct and 
refined taste, which led to its just appreciation, is evinced 
from some of his compositions, which, although few and sim- 
ple, sufficiently indicate this fact. One, and probably the 
last, of his compositions, which he named after a member of 
the choir, and which has since been published, has been par- 
ticularly admired for a degree of originality and melody, 
seldom surpassed in a common psalm or hymn tune. I 
mean the tune adapted to the words, ' Rock of ages cleft 
for me.' 

" But you perceive, that I have got upon a theme which, 
though from its connection may be interesting to yourself 
and to me, is yet foreign to the original design of this com- 
munication, inasmuch as I have only been rehearsing matters 
with which you are as familiar as myself. I shall therefore 
conclude by a little anecdote, wdiich I think at once illus- 
trative of his fondness for music, and his extreme simplicity 
and humility of character. 

"At a meeting of the choir held at the house of one of the 
members, and on an evening when it was thought impos- 
sible for him to be aware of the meeting, (the choir being 
under the impression that he was in the country a distance 
of ten miles,) the hymn tune above alluded to was 
performed. 



312 MEMOIR OF 

" During the performance of the second verse, they were 
suddenly startled at beholding Dr. Bedell standing in the 
room with his back against *the door leading to the yard. 
A sudden stop was made, and an explanation ensued. It 
seems he had returned to town suddenly, and was visiting in 
an adjoining street, when his ears were saluted with the 
sound of music. Recognising his own composition, he 
desired to be shown out by the back way of the house he 
was in, traced the sound along a dark alley, and finding the 
alley gate unfastened, groped his way into the house from 
whence the sounds proceeded, and succeeded in entering 
unobserved for the moment. After hearing his tune 
repeated, he insisted upon returning by the same route. 

" He has frequently said that music had a considerable 
effect on his preaching, and often at the foot of the paper 
which contained the notice to Mr. Loud, the organist, of the 
hymns to be sung during service, there would be a note of 
inquiry, ' When shall we meet again V or appointing a cer- 
tain evening at his house, requiring them to ; come early. : 

" To prove that the joy and delight attending these musi- 
cal meetings was reciprocated by the parties, I need hardly 
say more than that I believe every member of the choir can 
attribute it to the instrumentality of their dear and departed 
friend and pastor, that they have a good and reasonable hope 
of joining him again in singing the new song with the choir 
above. 

" This in some measure accounts for the unbroken har- 
mony and good feeling which always existed among the 
individuals composing the choir, and their strong attach- 
ment to their spiritual guide. That his attachment to them 
was unabated, he evidenced, I am told, in his later moments, 
by mentioning them individually, and as his dear choir. 

" While they cherish his memory and feel encouraged 
with the belief that he is now listening to the hosannas and 
hallelujahs of the heavenly choir, may they through grace 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 313 

1 be enabled so to follow his good example, that with him 
they may be partakers of the heavenly kingdom.' " 

Dr. Bedell was much in the habit of adapting some of 
the most agreeable melodies in common use, as songs, to 
sacred words ; and frequently wrote hymns for the purpose, 
which were so touching and interesting that they leave us 
with unfeigned regret that he did not devote more of his 
time to this employment. 

The following hymn was composed by him for the well- 
known tune of " Robin Adair :" 

Haste, my dull soul, arise, 

Cast off thy care. 
Press to. thy native skies, 

iMighty in prayer. 
Christ, he is gone before, 
Count all thy troubles o'er, 
He who thy burden bore, 
Jesus is there. 

Soul, for the marriage feast 

Robe and prepare ! 
Holiness becomes each guest, 

Jesus is there. 
Saints, wave your victory palms, 
Chant your celestial psalms ; 
Bride of the Lamb ! thy charms 
let us wear ! 

Heaven's bliss is perfect, pure, 

G-lory is there ! 
Heaven's bliss is ever sure, 

Thou art its heir. 
What makes its joys complete? 
What makes its hymns so sweet ? 
There we our friends shaU meet, 
Jesus is there ! 

Some other specimens of his talent in poetical composi- 
tion may be presented. The reader may not consider them 
14 



314 MEMOIR OF 

in any way remarkable as mere poetry. But the Christian, 
while in this aspect they are not contemptible, will delight 
in the piety of their sentiments, and the sweetness of their 
expressions. 

MORNING HYMN. 

Soon as the morn with earliest dawn shall wake 
The feathered tribes their tuneful notes to raise. 
Then, my soul, thy early tribute make 
Of humble prayer, and grateful, heartfelt praise, 

Thou who ordained the sun to rule the day, 
The moon and stars to illuminate the night, 
Teach me to walk in thy most righteous way, 
Strengthen with ray divine my erring sight. 

Great God ! who made these glorious orbs to shine, 
Moved by thy mighty hand, in liquid air, 
Grant me to know thy wondrous works divine, 
And lead me, while I praise, adore, and fear. 

But chiefly teach me raptured praise to bring, 
For works more wondrous than these orbs can tell ; 
Redeming love, redeeming grace to sing, 
And promised triumphs over death and hell. 

Saviour of all ! thy ransomed servant I, 
Purchase of blood ! thy blood was shed for me ! 
Hear thou and answer, grant thy suppliant's cry, 
And let thy spirit keep me near to thee. 

At length, when pain this mortal frame shall tear, 
And death shall call the struggling soul away, 
Take me to thee, celestial joys to share, 
And sing thy praise in realms of endless day. 

"i" have a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is 
far better. 

Better, indeed — for what is life, 
That man should cling to it below ? 
A busy round of noise and strife, 
w"hich from the seeds of sin do grow. 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 31 1 

Better, indeed — for if is built 
Our dearest hope upon that word, 
Which tells of pardon for our guilt, 
And grace to love and serve the Lord, 

Then, when our race of life is run, 
And we have reached yon happy shore, 
We triumph in the victory won, 
And sin hath power to reign no more. 

Better, indeed — for while we stay, 
Sorrow and pain are always nigh ; 
Little the rest in night or day 
Is meant for man beneath the sky. 

'Tis kindly done ! could perfect peace 
Wind round our hearts in cords of love, 
Here would we stay ; our souls would cease 
To sigh and pant for bliss above. 

Better, indeed — for there, no tears 
Tell aught of sorrow in the breast, 
No anguish there, no boding fears, 
But all is love, and peace, and rest. 

Better, indeed — for where's the heart 

Which hath not wept some friend that's gone ? m 

Which knows no feeling of the smart 

From love's dear bands in sunder torn? 

Better, indeed — for when we die, 
And trace the death- walk they have trod, 
We meet to part no more on high, 
Together love and serve our God. 

But better far than all, to know 
That when we reach that heavenly place, 
The soul no more shall mourn in wo 
The hidings of its Saviour's face. 

No shade of interposing night 
Eis glorious presence there conceals : 
vV~e go to dwell within that light 
VVhere all his loveliness reveals. 



316 MEMOIR OF 

Better, indeed — who would not say, 
When all these prospects round us rise ? 
Who would not drop this load of clay 
For glory, honor in the skies ? 

Lines -written for a watch paper, with the figure of a rising 
cherub embracing the cross ; to be given to a friend whose 
heart had not yet turned to the Lord : 

SPERO. 

I hope, because it was for me 
'The cross was reared on Calvary. 
Taught by this lesson, soon may I 
Be brought the world to crucify ; 
And thus the prize of life to gain, 
Nor let a Saviour die in vain. 

PRAISE. 

Strike the high-sounding lyre, 
And praise thy G-od above ; 
Ask for a seraph's fire, 
And seek a cherub's love. 

Let praise thy offering be 
For all that he hath done, 
For all his love to thee. 
The victories he hath won. 

Praise for redeeming love, 
Praise for subduing grace, 
Praise for the smiles that prove 
The shinings of his face. 

Praise for the promise given 
To pilgrims here below, 
Of holy rest in heaven, 
Where pain shall cease, and wo. 

Praise for the ills that throw 
Some clouds across the sky ; 
Praise for the promise bow 
That faith presents thine eye, 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 317 

Praise lor the joy that springs 
From peace in sins forgiven ; 
Praise for the faith that brings 
A foretaste here of heaven. 

These are spring flowers that come 
From winter's dreary night : 
They flourish on the tomb, 
In colors clear and bright. 

Praise G-od that thou canst love ; 
Praise him that thou canst praise ; 
Thus to thy G-od above 
Thy constant anthems raise. 

Connected -with our knowledge of Dr. Bedell's character 
and sufferings, there is much in these hymns which is affecting 
to us. He has now gone to the rest which he loved and 
desired, and has learned to join in other hymns of praise 
than the redeemed can ever raise on this side their glorious 
reward. O, may we follow him in this pursuit and attain- 
ment of God's precious promises ! 

A few of his letters, which have not been particularly 
connected with any facts in this history, I here introduce : 

to friends from england who were returning- to their 
own country. 

" My Dear Friends : 

"As in all human probability we shall never meet again 
this side the grave, and as I do not feel sufficiently strong in 
health to encounter all that I would say in a parting inter- 
view, I take this method of bidding farewell to those to 
whom I have indeed become strongly attached. Were it not 
for the hope and blessed assurance that we shall meet again, 
under far different circumstances, I should feel more grieved 
at this temporary separation. And even if the same ' man- 
sions' in our Father's house should not be allotted us, there 
is happiness in the feeling that we shall inherit the same 



318 MEMOIR OF 

Father's love. I despair to reach the same heavenly-minded- 
ness which characterizes the walk of your father according 
to the flesh, and would wish that you both might be where 
he is, than where my humble lot may fall in the inheritance. 
There can be no harm, however, in aiming at the highest 
place ; and as indebted to grace for the least may we trust 
it for the greatest. In the abounding goodness of God, 
through his dear Son, I have found many verdant spots in 
my short pilgrimage, and I reckon among the number your 
short residence in this city. ' Very pleasant have the days 
been, and they have left a fragrance behind, and the remem- 
brance of them will be sweet.' If it will not be too much of 
an interruption to the happiness you will enjoy, when you 
shall feel the peculiar sweets of an established home, and 
claims of numerous friends, I shall be delighted to have, at 
such intervals as you may please, some few lines from you 
both, to let us know that you are alive and happy. Any 
poor return that my pen can offer will be cheerfully 
given. 

" Make my regards to those most dear to you. As our 
hopes for eternity are in the same precious Saviour I feel 
something at least of the relationship of the Gospel, and 
may safely even send Christian love. 

"And now, that you may enjoy the c favor of the Lord, 
which is life, and his loving-kindness, which is better than 
life,' for time and eternity, is the prayer of your friend, 

" G. T. Bedell." 

to the same. 
" My Dear Friends : 

" I regret most sincerely that I had not the opportunity of 
writing to you by my dear friend and brother, Dr. Milnor. 
At no period of the present year, however, have I been so 
deeply engaged as during the few days which intervened 
between his determination and actual departure, as I had in 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 319 

charge all the preparations necessary for the ordination of my 
young friend and pupil, Mr. Henderson, whose examination, 
etc., were hurried, in order that he might supply the pulpit 
of Dr. M. during his visit to England. 

"Before this letter reaches you, you will have had the 
pleasure, at least, of knowing that Dr. M. is in England, 
and I can well imagine the surprise and gratification which 
you must experience at an event so unlooked for. I very 
often feel an earnest desire to visit England, for the purpose 
of becoming acquainted with the Christians of that land of 
enlarged benevolence ; for it seems to me impossible to 
become acquainted with such master-spirits, as are many of 
them, without imbibing something of their holy and heavenly 
influence, which seems to have created around them a pecu- 
liar atmosphere. This, however, is one of those idle wishes, 
the only valuable purpose of which may be to amuse for an 
hour. As such a privilege I have no reasonable expectation 
of ever being permitted to enjoy, I must be content to desire 
and to labor, and to pray that I may meet these men in 
heaven, where the theme of conversation will not be the 
prospective, but the actual glory of the Redeemer's king- 
dom. At the same time, I know not an enjoyment upon 
earth which would promise to be greater than the spiritual 
feast of May in London, That I can not enjoy it is, no 
doubt, all for the best, as my poor nervous temperament 
would be shattered all to pieces by such excess of excite- 
ment. 

" Your two letters have reached me safely, and, as you 
may imagine, have afforded me much real gratification. 
The first was received some time since, the last only the 
day before yesterday. I immediately delivered those 

enclosed to Mrs. , who is the same enthusiast (I use 

the term in its good meaning) as ever, and so wedded to 
the cause of the cast-off people of God, that were she in 



320 MEMOIR OF 

England, she would be the companion of Lady Georgiana 
and her Wolfe. 

" In your last letter, you allude to some music which 
you have been kind enough to have copied. I am afraid 
that there has been some mistake, as the letter has reached 
me, and nothing else has come to hand. I hope so valu- 
able a present has not been lost, and that I may yet 
receive it. 

" Our Sunday-school operations get on prosperously ; we 
have more than one thousand scholars, under the care of 
seventy -nine teachers, all members of the church. Our 
only difficulty arises from want of room, for the greater 
part of the sum subscribed to the support of the schools 
is now, and must continue to be, appropriated to the hire 
of rooms. 

" One most marvellous interposition of Providence, in 
relation to Bishop Chase, I can not avoid mentioning. 
While at the house of Mr. Beck, in this city, he received a 
package from Dr. Ward, the Bishop of Sodor and Man, 
making inquiries relating to certain property in America, 
of which some old person in his diocese was the heir. The 
letter had gone to Ohio — followed him to Washington — 
then to Philadelphia — and found him at Mr. Beck's, when he 
read it to Mr. B. The latter was in amazement, and said, 
■ Bishop Chase, I am the only man in the world who can 
give you information. I have the deeds in my possession, 
and have had them forty-three years, not knowing what to 
do with them, or where any heirs were to be found.' Think 
of this, that the application should have been made to 
Bishop Chase, and he not in Ohio, but a guest in the house 
of the only man who possessed any information on the sub- 
ject ! It is indeed marvellous in our eyes. Copies of the 
papers have been sent to England. 

"And now, my dear friend, I have filled my papei, with- 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 321 

out the half I desired. Do make my respects to your vene 
rable father, with whom I should be, beyond expression, 
gratified to become acquainted. I am afraid that to know 
how he looks will be denied me, unless I can succeed in 
receiving the package which, with other things, contains the 
likeness. 

" Brother S is just as usual — suffering, yet in the 

same holy frame, and doing the same active duties. Mrs. 

and Miss desired to be affectionately remembered. 

And may the Lord have you both in his most holy keeping, 
and ripen you for his kingdom and glory. 

" I mean this letter for both of you, as constituting but 
one person, and therefore subscribe myself, my dear friend, 

" Yours, most truly, in the bonds of Christian affection. 

" G. T. Bedell." 

" to the rev. dr. m. on his embarkation for england. 
" Rev. and Dear Brother : 

" I can truly say that I am rejoiced at the prospect of your 
going to England on matters so intimately associated with 
the great interests of religion. And I rejoice particularly 
that you are going, because you are the only one of our 
clergy who is personally connected with every form of reli- 
gious benevolence in America, and therefore better qualified 
than any one else to be the representative of all leading 
interests. I think the whole train of circumstances remark- 
ably providential. 

" Had it been in my power, I should have made a journey 
to New- York on purpose to express my pleasure, and to bid 
you farewell ; but duties, and roads, and imperfect health, 
all combine to forbid me. I wish that I could even go with 
you to England, just to enjoy one such feast as that which 
must be spread out before the spiritual appetite during the 
month of May, in the British metropolis. May the Lord 
follow you with his choicest blessings; make you the instru. 
14* 



322 MEMOIR OF 

ment of great good while you are abroad, and return you 
to your church, family, and friends, with bodily and spiritual 
health refreshed by the journey. That you may in all 
things have a 'prosperous journey by the will of God,' is 
the sincere wish and prayer of 

" Your Friend and Brother, 

"G. T. Bedell." 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 323 



CHAPTER XI. 

Failing Health — Joumeyings— Last Journey — Sickness — Death. 

We are now brought to consider the latter portion of 
the life of Dr. Bedell, the few painful but bright days and 
months which preceded his departure from this world to 
God. 

For a few of the first years during which he ministered 
in Philadelphia, his health was comparatively good, though 
even then, when contrasted with most other men, he would 
be considered weak and infirm. He had been delicate in his 
constitution from his earliest childhood, and has often said he 
had never known the enjoyment of what others would call 
good health. After he had been connected with St. Andrew's 
Church about four years, his health seemed to be manifestly 
undermined. He had engaged in labors quite too abundant 
for his constitution to endure. Frequent spitting of blood, 
and increasing debility and failure of appetite appeared to 
indicate to others that his course was nearly finished. For 
several of the last years of his life, he was kept in being 
and in active effort beyond any of the expectations of his 
friends. The kind providence of God had favored him with 
the constant attentions of a physician, Dr. John K. Mitchell, 
of Philadelphia, whose remarkable skill in his profession, 
united with the tenderest concern for his patient's comfort, 



324 MEMOIR OF 

a clear understanding of his constitution and habits, and the 
most untiring assiduity in watching over his health, was 
"blessed from above, to the preservation of his life, and the 
mitigation of his sufferings, for several years after it was 
supposed by others that he was very near the end of his 
course. In the spring of 1829, when the writer of this 
sketch was first brought into that intimate connection with 
Dr. Bedell which was closed only by his death, he was con- 
fined, as he had been for a large part of the winter, under 
what was by most of his friends supposed to be a final 
attack of his disease. From this, however, he was again 
restored to his ministry, and to the surprise of his friends, 
enabled to undertake not only his previous labors, but even 
a still larger measure. The letters to Mr. Henderson 
which follow, are in reference to this confinement. In intro- 
ducing them, Mr. H. remarks : 

" The following was written at a time when he was 
decidedly convalescent, though still confined within the 
house. It was upon these occasions especially that Dr. 
Bedell was accustomed to express, though briefly, the pious 
emotions of his heart. His personal piety was rather retir- 
ing in its character, seeking not the notice of others. He 
was satisfied that the world should know him, not so much 
by his professions as by his conduct. When, however, he 
did ' speak with his tongue,' it was e out of the abundance of 
a heart overflowing with divine affection.' r 

"Philadelphia, May 4, 1829. 
" My Dear Friend : 

" I am once more, in the providence of God, permitted to 
take my stylus in my hand, though little can I think and less 
can I write. It is now nearly six weeks that I have been 
confined to the house, shut out from those occupations which 
have been my sole business and sole delight. But with al] 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 325 

this I have only to say, goodness and mercy have followed 
me, and it is the Lord, he hath done what seemeth him 
good. Since I have been convalescent the weather has been 
very much against my rapid recovery, and it is now five 
days since I have enjoyed the luxury of the open air. Cold 
rain and cold wind have kept me housed. Had it been clear 
and warm yesterday, I should have been permitted to attend 

church. * * * * * * 

" Your Friend and Brother." 

" Philadelphia, May 18, 1829. 
" My Dea h Friend : 

" Yesterdaj was the first out of eight Sundays that I have 
been permitted to attend the house of God. 

" 1 can truly say, tk a t during that time I have very often 
felt the force of the expressions of the Psalmist, ' My soul 
hath a desire and longing to enter into the courts of the 
Lord.' I should have attended church, however, before, had 
the weather been such as to render it prudent, but the two 
Sundays which preceded yesterday were very stormy. 

"Yesterday was a very lovely day, and I not only 
attended church but preached, though I was almost over- 
come by the manifestation of feeling on the part of the con- 
gregation at the introductory part of my discourse. We 
could not have had less than one thousand present. As it 
will interest you, and is not very long, I will transcribe the 
introductory part spoken of above. It is as follows : 

" ' It is now, my friends, eight weeks since, by a dispensa- 
tion of that Providence who ordereth all tilings after the 
counsel of his own will — and whose will is always right — it 
is now, I remark, eight weeks since I have been permitted 
to occupy this pulpit, while days and nights of weariness 
and pain have taught me the lessons of mortality. If there 
is one pleasure which I enjoy, if there is one hour during 
the week in which I feel more exquisitely than another, it 



326 MEMOIR OF 

is that sacred hour of the Sabbath in which I can have the 
privilege from this place of proclaiming in your ears the 
Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Suffer me then, my 
brethren, with my little recruited strength and my first 
feeble effort, to appear before you as an ambassador of 
Christ, and taking my stand by the great Apostle of the 
Gentiles, seek to testify my gratitude to God for the privi- 
lege and happiness he again permits me to enjoy, and to 
testify my fidelity to you by some plain observations on a 
passage which living I would wish to make my motto, ?^d 
which dead I would wish inscribed upon my tomb, " God 
forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord 
Jesus Christ. 5 " * * * * * 

" Your IM&ntd and Brother." 

44 The overpowering effect which this language, delivered 
by himself m his own peculiar manner, must have produced 
upon an affectionate and devoted congregation, can be better 
imagined than described. An eye-witness informs me that 
the effect was solemn and sublime beyond description. One 
part of his wish has been solemnly fulfilled. It ivas his 
motto even to the last struggle of mortal existence. 

44 Let now the hand of the sculptor verify the other, by 
4 inscribing upon his tomb,' God forbid that I should 

GLORV SAVE IN THE CROSS OF OUR LORD JeSUS CHRIST. So 

will strangers pause in passing, and friends shed the tear of 
sad recollection while silent memory ponders over the untir- 
ing faithfulness of one who 4 being dead yet speaketh.' n 

After this attack of disease his strength and health may 
be said to have been continually failing. His weakness led 
him to adopt at this time the habit of sitting in the pulpit 
while he was preaching, a habit which might have been 
expected to interfere with the freedom and interest of his 
manner in speaking far more than it did. Indeed, no stranger 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 327 

to him would have perceived the least difference produced 
by this cause. The same solemn earnestness, and the same 
gentle but powerful action, still added their peculiar influ- 
ence and charms to all he said ; and his preaching was 
never so effectual, and so extensively instrumental of good, 
as after this period in his life. His failing health induced 
him to pass several weeks of every summer in travelling. 
And thus, as the early persecution after the death of Ste- 
phen only scattered the disciples to carry the blessings of 
the Gospel abroad more widely, the truth which he preached 
" in power and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance," 
became under the influence of his own bodily weakness the 
more extensively known, and productive of good effects 
both upon the preachers and the hearers of the Gospel in 
many different and distant points in the United States. 

He was particularly fond of attending the conventions of 
the Episcopal Church in Virginia, in which journey he 
indulged himself for several years. Not only his personal 
attachment to his uncle, the Rt. Rev. Bishop Moore, but his 
experience of the comfort and advantage flowing from those 
meetings, led him there. The advantages of these conven- 
tions to the growth and piety of the Church in that favored 
diocese can hardly be overrated. Religious services are 
daily and almost hourly conducted in all the houses of wor- 
ship of the town in which the convention is held. All the 
members of the church throughout the State who can attend 
make it an object to be present. The churches of all deno- 
minations are freely offered to the use of the Episcopal 
clergy, who have been in that State distinguished for their 
union in evangelical principles and preaching. Strong 
and universal feeling upon the great concerns of religion is 
produced, and much spiritual good is always accomplished 
at these meetings by their instrumentality. Happy will it 
be for the Episcopal Church throughout the country when 
the same system and the same spirit shall everywhere pre- 



328 MEMOIR OF 

vail. Piety will revive in truth and power, and the borders 
of the Church will be proportionably extended. 

For these last years of the life of Dr. Bedell, as his health 
was rapidly declining, his whole character seemed to be 
maturing for a better country. He was daily growing in 
sweetness of temper, meekness of spirit, humility, and love, 
in preparation for his eternal rest. Each year, and almost 
each month, seemed more likely to be his last. And his 
concerns were arranged, and his labors devoted, like a man 
who had not long to live, so as to accomplish the utmost 
possible amount of benefit for others, and to leave the least 
undone for himself. The following letter from the Rev. 
Dr. Aydelott, of Cincinnati, to Mrs. B., exhibits but one 
instance out of the multitudes of the same description, of 
the impression which his loveliness of character and meek- 
ness of spirit produced upon those who knew him best : 

" My Dear Madam : 

" Though I have been so long and so far away from Phila- 
delphia and the many kind friends there, yet be assured I do 
not feel the less interest in them. And among the pleasant 
hours of the past that steal across my memory, none come 
so acceptably as those I spent in your own blessed family. 
I say blessed, for I doubt not you are blessed in yourselves, 
and I trust that I found many blessings among you. How 
many precious lessons did my dear brother, now in glory, 
teach me of ' suffering affliction, and of patience V Did not 
his whole example speak most touchingly ? If he was elo- 
quent in the pulpit, it was far more instructive and affecting 
to be with him and see him in the suffering and labors that 
daily came upon him. 

" I shall never forget a reply he once made to me. I came 
into the room, and found him as usual reclining on a settee, 
quite feeble and languid. He kindly asked me how I was. 
I replied, \ Perfectly well.' In that touching tone,, indicating 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 329 

a heart faint under the burden of life, and jet meekly sub- 
missive, he replied, ' I never know what it is to enjoy an 
hour 's health /' There was an inexpressible moral beauty 
in his countenance and maimer as he spoke ; the expression, 
I presume, of those subdued natural feelings and deep, pious 
emotions that were mino-ling in his bosom. A thousand 
times has this whole scene recurred to me. Yery often have 
I spoken of it to others, and the Lord grant that it may be 
more and more sanctified to do me good. I would ' heartily 
thank him for the good example of this his servant, who, 
having finished his course in faith, now rests from his labors.' 

"I can scarcely, my dear friend, condole with you in 
God's afflictive dispensation towards you, there was such 
brightness in the cloud. What a life ! What a death ! 
Surely you can never be sufficiently grateful for God's good- 
ness in permitting him to remain so long with you at the 
expense of such toil and suffering on his part, and for the 
hope he has given you of meeting him in that place where 
' God shall wipe away all tears.' 

" My little ones often speak with great pleasure of ' Mr. 
Bedell and the Sunday-school.'' The Lord grant they may 
never lose the good impressions there derived from his faith- 
ful servant. 

'•Affectionately, your brother and servant." 

Our sketch of this holy and valued man has been brought 
now, in its principal facts and circumstances, near to the close 
of his life. Upon the few last months, and weeks, and days 
which he spent upon the earth, I would dwell more particu- 
larly, not only as desiring to gather up every fragment 
which may remain of him, that if possible nothing may be 
lost, but also as unwilling to separate from the circum- 
stances, even though so painful, which showed him to be still 
among us. 

In the winter of 1834 his health began verv sensiblv to 



830 MEMOIR OF 

decline, and it was apparent to all his friends that his days 
on earth were soon to be numbered and finished. He was 
much confined to the house, and unable to undertake more 
than the occasional discharge of public duty through the 
succeeding spring. Early in the warm season he removed 
with his family to Bristol, Pa., where he found the retire- 
ment and quietness which he so much required, and from 
whence he paid occasional visits, by water, to Philadelphia. 
His physician had now ceased to encourage him with hope 
of life much longer protracted, though in the hearts of some 
of Ids nearest friends there was still sometimes the lingering 
expectation of his restoration. While at Bristol, in the 
month of June, he took the short journey to Elizabethtown 
and Newark, N. J., which has been already referred to in a 
letter of Mr. Henderson's. In reference to this journey, 
and to the circumstances which subsequently occurred to 
him through the short remaining period of his life, I am per- 
mitted to present some extracts from an account written by 
Mrs. B. for one of Dr. Bedell's sisters, at her request, soon 
after his decease. In the introduction of these extracts, 
which seem so much to open the retirements of private 
scenes, and which were never designed to come in any way 
before the public eye, the writer of the present sketch feels 
bound to say that they have been granted only to his earnest 
solicitation and his decided judgment that they were of great 
importance to him in finishing a proper account of the 
lamented object to whom they refer, and would be valued 
with deep interest by those for whom this memoir has been 
prepared. Speaking of the visit to Elizabethtown. Mrs. B. 
remarks : 

" This journey proved to be, in connection with some pre- 
vious circumstances, a most 'providential event to me. My 
views of his disease were entirely changed ; whether they 
were now correct or not, the effect was the same. My sink- 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 331 

ing hopes were raised, and I was enabled to pass through 
many a trying scene, under which, without the buoyancy of 
hope, I must have sunk. Among other things which pro- 
duced this effect, were the knowledge we obtained of the 
longevity of the family, their singular exemption from con- 
sumption, combined with the similarity of symptoms be- 
tween the case of your dear brother and persons who had 
been very low with dyspepsia ; and then the actual visit 
from several individuals, then in perfect health, who had 
been raised almost from the verge of the grave under the 
same disease. One case, you will recollect, of a gentleman 
advanced in life, who had been confined seven years, and 
who had perfectly recovered, and for years enjoyed uninter- 
rupted health. 

"About this time the efficacy of the waters at Bedford 
being very much spoken of as instrumental in effecting 
astonishing cures of dyspepsia, and having experienced the 
benefit invariably derived from travelling, I felt it my duty 
to urge him to take the journey, particularly as I found his 
health declining, and that nothing more was to be expected 
from medical aid. 

" Many, many times has my heart sunk within me when 
I beheld his wasted form and feeble step ; but it stimulated 
me to more intensity of purpose in the determination to 
undertake the journey, and make a last effort to prolong 
his valuable life, believing it in all cases a duty never to 
cease our efforts until life is extinct. The journey of two 
hundred miles was a terrific undertaking ; but God is every 
where, and will not forsake his children when they conscien- 
tiously believe they are in the path of duty. To part with 
my husband seemed impossible. I therefore lived under a 
continual struggle to banish the thought of death from my 
mind, shutting my eyes to that which was but too evident 
to all beside. 

" I saw that great energy on my part was necessary, unless 



332 MEMOIR OF 

I would sit down quietly and watch the appalling march of 
disease hurrying his frail body to the grave. This was im- 
possible. I therefore marked out my course, with a firm 
determination to overcome every difficulty. 

" My first, as well as my most unceasing effort, was to 
make every one believe with me, that his disease was of the 
stomach, and not the lungs, or at least that the latter were 
not materially affected. 

" When I heard the anxious inquiry after his health, and 
saw anguish and even despair traced on the countenances of 
many who looked upon him, indescribable was the struggle 
to check the rising tear, and hush the palpitating heart, while 
with apparent cheerfulness I strove to convince each one 
that alarm was unnecessary. My object in doing this was 
to enable his friends to approach him with cheerfulness, 
lest sympathetic depression of spirits should retard his 
recovery. My own hopes were really strengthened when I 
listened to his last and long to be remembered sermon, on the 
first Sunday evening in July. He solemnly addressed the 
scorner. It was his last message from on high to the careless 
and worldly, who had heard the same truths from him for 
twelve years unheeded. 

" This sermon was preached with all the eloquence and 
energy that characterized his preaching twelve years since. 
His voice was clear and loud, his manner graceful and ani- 
mated; this confirmed me in all my anticipations of an 
improved state of health, and in a moment of excitement I 
remarked, in answer to a friend, who said he hoped we 
would not know the Church when we returned, referring to 
the determination of the vestry to have it completely repaired 
during his absence, I said, 4 1 hope you will not know your 
pastor when he returns.' Oh, how little was I then aware 
how soon God would take him to himself, and that his own 
people would only behold a lifeless corpse when next thej 
looked upon him ! 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 333 

" In the morning of the same day he administered the 
communion ; there appears to have been here a remarkable 
providence that the administering of this ordinance should 
have been one of his last acts, for he ever considered it a 
precious privilege to unite with his people on such occasions, 
and he always made his arrangements, even when travelling, 
so that nothing should prevent his returning in time, if pos- 
sible, for occasions of this kind. 

" But on this occasion, in his weak state, it proved almost 
more than he could bear ; he was obliged frequently to sit 
down, and when standing to seek support from the nearest 
object. The solemnity that pervaded the whole congrega- 
tion can not be described ; a general sensation was produced. 
Many were convinced that they should be permitted thus to 
meet him no more on earth. One individual was so much 
impressed with the belief that the sermon in the evening 
would be the last, that she insisted upon her husband, 
(who was not a regular attendant at St. Andrew's,) accom- 
panying her to listen to his last admonitions. 

" These circumstances, which have but lately come to my 
knowledge, call forth my gratitude, when I see that I was 
not only mercifully withheld from such distressing fore- 
bodings, but strengthened to perform every duty before I 
was required to drink of the bitter cup of affliction. 

"I looked upon his extreme exhaustion as the natural 
consequence of standing while in such a debilitated state, for 
you know he had not been able for a long time to stand or 
walk without great fatigue ; for many years he had been 
obliged to sit in a chair while preaching. 

" This opinion was strengthened when in the evening he 
preached with such energy, that but for the paleness of his 
countenance you might have forgotten that he was the victim 
of disease. From this I argued that it was muscular debility > 
and that his energy of system was not impaired, but only 
required an object sufficient to bring it into action." 



334 MEMOIR OF 

This last sermon was preached on the evening of July 6th, 
1834. The following affecting reference to it is taken from 
a Baptist paper published in Philadelphia. It was written 
just subsequent to Dr. Bedell's death : 

"dr. bedell's last sermon. 
" He felt that every sermon might be his last. He there- 
fore endeavored to make every sermon what he wished his 
last sermon to be. His health during the whole course of 
his ministry in this city was very frail ; it taught him that 
his time was short, and led him to think much on his latter 
end. He preached emphatically as a dying man, and his 
theme was that which alone becomes the lips that are about 
to be sealed in death; — it was Christ, Christ crucified, 
emphatically, 'Christ and his cross was all his theme.' 
Thus, it was the light of eternity, the beams of glory, and 
the flashes of perdition, that gave vigor to a failing frame, 
and invested his sermons with an unearthly charm. The 
sermon which proved his last, however, is said to have been 
heard, as well as given, with the conviction that it was a 
dying testimony. During the progress of the services 
introductory to the sermon, he lay on a sofa in the vestry, 
fanned by a friend, and panting for breath. He did not rise 
till the moment arrived for him to ascend the pulpit, and 
when he began, his utterance was so faint, that it was diffi- 
cult, even for those who were near, to hear him. But 
gathering strength from his subject, he rose and rose, till 
his weakness was forgotten, and he seemed to stand triumph- 
ant above the reach of death, and speak out from the thres- 
hold of heaven a last warning to those who had declined 
the calls of mercy, and turned away from him that speaketh 
from heaven, ' If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself; 
but if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it.' But he had 
not passed the gates of death; he sank down from his 
unearthly height, and unable to stand even during the 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 335 

doxology, he retired from his pulpit and from his people, 
to be there seen as an ambassador of the Saviour of 
sinners no more." 

This sermon was a faithful, bold, and uncompromising 
warning to sinful and impenitent men. The messenger 
proclaimed in it solemn truth, in a solemn and awakening 
manner, with an overwhelming interest for the souls of his 
hearers ; and he was clear by it from their blood, if it were 
rejected, for ever. The following extract concludes this 
impressive sermon : 

" III. Now let us observe the contrast to this, which is my 
third topic — ; but if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it.' 

" To scorn, is to despise religion, to scoff at, to ridicule 
to reject, to neglect it. He who will not repent, is a scorner. 
He who is not willing to lay hold of the hope set before him 
in the Gospel, is a scorner. He who puts off the concerns 
of religion, is a scorner. He who does not, on the call of 
God, at once, without disputation and without opposition, 
submit himself as a lost and ruined sinner to the method 
of God's mercy in Christ Jesus, is a scorner. He who is 
self-righteous, is a scorner. He who is not ready to say, 
' Lord, what wilt thou have me to do V is a scorner. In 
fine, every careless, unconcerned, impenitent individual, 
male or female, young or old, who hears the calls of God, 
and refuses to obey, comes under the appellation of the 
scorner of wisdom. Now, the language of God through 
the proverb is, ' But if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear 
it.' Alone — observe, no one is to share it. Whatever the 
scorner is to bear, he is to bear it alone. • All its energy 
will be concentrated in him ; he will be the living, eternal, 
undivided supporter of that which he is to bear. The folly 
and the danger of this will be seen then, if we consider 
what the scorner is to bear. 



336 MEMOIR OF 

" 1. He is to bear his own sins. 

" 2. His own sorrows. 

" 3, The scorn of earth, and heaven, and hell ; and if 
this is not enough, he will bear, 

"4. His own eternal self-reproaches. 

" 1. The scorner — the neglecter of religion is to bear his 
own sins. The real Christian, my brethren, has this one 
peculiar characteristic; his sins have been borne by the 
Saviour in whom he trusts. He has believed God, and it 
has been accounted unto him for righteousness. He has 
received the benefit of God's reconciling mercy. 

" The scorner has relinquished all claims upon the pre- 
cious Saviour and the precious promises of the Gospel : he 
consents to bear the weight of his own sin, a weight which 
had already been sufficient to bring down the Lord Jesus 
Christ from heaven to tabernacle in human flesh, to suffer 
and to die ; a weight which spread a gloom more sable than 
the night over the scenes of Gethsemane and Calvary. Thus 
saith the Lord, ' He that believeth on the Son hath everlast- 
ing life : and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life ; 
but the wrath of God abideth on him.' The careless, the 
unconcerned, the scorner, is the man who, having no vital 
interest in Jesus Christ, walks abroad with the unmitigated 
curse of God upon his defenceless brow. He is without a 
Saviour. He will pass through this world without a Saviour, 
and stand at the bar of God without a Saviour. This will 
the scorner bear — bear his own sins. Can he bear irp 
against the weight of sin before a sin-hating and a sin- 
avenging God ? Careless sinner, what art thou doing, ven- 
turing to bear on thine own shoulders a weight which is 
sufficient to crush a world 1 Flee to Jesus Christ, who alone 
is able to save. 

"2. As the scorner is obliged to bear the weight of his 
own sins, so will he be obliged to bear the weight of his 
own sorrows. We are told that ' man is born to trouble, as 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 337 

the sparks fly upward ;' and there is no individual, experi- 
enced in the calamities of human life, but who must know 
that it is a difficult matter to sustain them. It is a matter of 
experience, that amidst the trials which are incident to this 
fleeting and transitory state of things, the sundering of ties 
which have united hearts together, and the prostration of 
hopes which have been fondly cherished, stoical apathy or 
philosophical indifference are but indifferent sustainers of 
the sorrow-stricken soul. It is certain that religion is the 
only real solace of the afflicted; and he whose heart is 
brought into subjection to the obedience of Christ, knows 
that he has a source of comfort which the world can neither 
give nor take away. But the seorner, the careless neglecter 
of the Lord Jesus Christ and his Gospel, throws by the pre- 
cious balm of Gilead. In all the bereavements of life he 
has no Almighty arm on which to lean ; he may take the 
miserable comfort of bending to the stroke of necessity, and 
being satisfied with that which is inevitable \ but it is all the 
while a satisfaction filled with secret repinings and sorrows 
of the heart. It is altogether unlike the feeling which dic- 
tated the expression, ' The Lord gave, and the Lord hath 
taken away ; blessed be the name of the Lord.' As the 
seorner is without a Saviour, he is without a comforter, and 
so far alone as to be without an Almighty aid and refuge ; 
he must bear the sorrows from which, as a child of mortality, 
he has no escape. Pitiable indeed is that state which, while 
there is no hold on heaven, gives even no substantial rest on 
earth ; which gives up heaven for the world, and then by the 
world is cheated. And when the hour of departure comes, 
though he may have the sympathies of friends, the choicest 
attentions of earth, he has no arm on which to lean, no guide 
through the darkness of the valley. What a rapture must 
light on the brow and kindle up the glow of heaven, even hi 
the eye which hath lost its natural lustre, when, with a hopo 
in Christ which entereth in beyond the veiL the dying 
15 



388 MEMOIR OF 

believer is able to say, 'Yea, though I walk through the 
valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil : for thou 
art with me ; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.' The 
scorner must bear his own sorrows and bear his own com- 
pany. It was the heart-rending prayer of one of old, i Leave 
me not in the time of age, forsake me not when my strength 
faileth.' Brethren, when sickness and sorrow come, and 
when death is near, you will learn what the scorner or 
neglect er of Christ will bear ; you may be sustained under 
it, but sustained without comfort. 

" 3. So much for earth ; look at this matter in relation to 
eternity. The scorner will bear the scorn of heaven and of 
hell. I have said that he would bear the scorn of heaven. 
There is testimony on this subject, without which I would 
not have dared to state the proposition, and I present this 
whole subject to you in the language of the Bible, the word 
of God himself: ' Because I have called, and ye refused : I 
have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded ; but ye 
have set at naught all my counsel, and would none of my 
reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock 
when your fear cometh.' ' Whosoever therefore shall be 
ashamed of me and of my words, in this adulterous and 
sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of man be 
ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father, with 
the holy angels.' ? But those mine enemies, which would 
not that I should reign over them, bring, hither, and slay 
them before me.' 

"As the scorner will thus bear the reproach of heaven, he 
will bear the scorn of hell. It is a principle of common 
experience, that the sympathy of the wicked is a sympathy 
of reproaches. There is none of the sympathy of affection 
in sin. Take the living mass of human corruption which 
may be concentrated in our prisons, and though there may 
a community of suffering there is no community of affecSson. 
Pity and compassion find little place in those who are 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 339 

brought together a congregation of polluted and polluting 
criminals. Scorn of each other is the predominant feeling. 
Place the innocent together under circumstances of trial, and 
mutual respect secures mutual pity. Paul and Silas, in the 
dungeon at Philippi, sang the praises of God. Hundreds of 
martyrs in the early ages of Christianity, in the loathsome 
prisons, spent their time in mutual expressions of sympathy 
and love. But this requires the strong principle of self- 
respect. In the regions of eternal woe, none will be there 
who can respect another, because it will be known and felt 
that it was sin, contempt of God, ingratitude, and rebellion 
which brought them all together, and no principle can be 
there save that of scorn and contempt for each other. 

'"And beside this, the sinner will bear the scorn of hell, 
because he can not but be despised by the great adversary 
who hath beguiled him of his soul. Tell me the feeling 
exercised by the reckless criminal who hath induced 
another to partake his crime. Tell me the feeling of 
the libertine in relation to the victim whose honor he hath 
seduced; disgust and detestation all. The sinner in the 
prison-house of hell, brought there by the wiles and allure- 
ments of the devil, by whom he has been led captive, will 
bear the devil's scorn for the weakness which submitted to 
be deceived ; and as he will have no sympathy from his 
companions, he will have none from the master to whom he 
hath sold his eternal all. 

" 4. And as if this were not enough, the scorner will bear, 
what is worse than all, his own eternal self-reproaches. It 
is the declaration of Scripture, that i the spirit of a man will 
sustain his infirmity;' and it is its portentous interroga- 
tory, ' but a wounded spirit who can bear V If there is on 
earth any one thing which is more difficult to sustain than 
another, it is the accusations of a man's own conscience. 
Poverty may be borne, calumny borne, affliction of any 
kind borne, but the mental anguish of consciously-deserved 



340 MEMOIR OF 

distress is intolerable. I have no doubt that it is in relation 
to his own eternal self-reproaches that one portion of the 
sufferings of the eternal world is placed before us under the 
characteristic term of l the worm which dieth not.' Yes, 
scorner — careless, impenitent sinner — rejecter of Jesus 
Christ, neglect er of his great salvation, you are now nurtur- 
ing the undying worm of self-reproach, which must of its 
nature be more bitter, and of anguish more intense than the 
unconsuming fire of eternal wrath. There are fearful ques- 
tions in the word of God : ' Who can dwell with devouring 
flames ? who can lie down in eternal burnings V But there 
is a still more fearful question, ' "Who can bear eternal self- 
upbraidings V There is a fearful declaration, c that for those 
who reject the salvation of the Gospel there remaineth no 
more sacrifice for sin ;' but it is still more fearful to know, 
that for such there remaineth no escape from the more than 
devouring flame, the scorpion sting of self-crimination. It 
were terrible to hear in the great day of judgment, from the 
lips of the Judge, e Thou hast destroyed thyself;' but it is 
more unspeakably, more inconceivably terrific to have the 
eternal consciousness of having done that deed of self- 
destruction. 

" My dear brethren, all this is what the scorner is pre- 
paring for himself. Your sins you bear, with none to take 
from your soul the weight of wrath which rests upon it. 
Your sorrows you bear, with no almighty comforter. The 
scorn of heaven you bear, and the scorn of hell, and worse 
than all, your own. You will have no refuge from yourself. 
I beseech you, take this matter into your serious considera- 
tion ; and now, in this period of your merciful visitation, lay 
hold of the method of escape provided, and be wise for 
yourselves, for your souls, for your eternity. I call upon 
you now to choose between the life and death which is set 
before you : a space of brief opportunity is yours to embrace. 
Oh ! let it not pass : for a few years, perhaps only days, per- 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 341 

haps only hours of self-delusion and carnal ease — oh ! why 
will ye sacrifice the whole of eternity ? 

" ' Broad is the road which leads to death, 
And many walk together there : 
"While wisdom's is a narrow path. 
With here and there a traveller. ' 

" Walk ye longer in that broad road, and the doom of the 
scorner must be yours ; take the narrow path, and the wis- 
dom of the wise is your portion ! r ' 

In order to relieve his mind from all anxiety about his 
duties in Philadelphia, and to enable him to enter freely 
upon the journey which he and his friends were both desir- 
ous should be made, the vestry of St. Andrew's Church 
determined to close their church, that it might be repaired 
and renewed. The following letter inclosed the resolutions 
which were passed by the vestry on the day after this last 
sermon was preached. 

"REV. DR. BEDELL, BRISTOL, PA. 

"Philadelphia, 9th July, 1834. 
" Rev. and Dear Sir : 

" By the inclosed copy of the minutes of their meeting, 
you will see that the congregation of St. Andrew's Church, 
of which you are the beloved rector, have resolved to close 
the church for two months from and after Sunday the 13th 
inst, for the ostensive purpose of cleansing it, and making 
necessary repairs. From what fell from those who took the 
lead in the business, it appears that the choice of time was 
made chiefly with a view to exempt you. at this sultry sea- 
son, from parochial duties, deemed inconsistent with the 
recovery of your health ; and to make that exemption so 
complete as to leave no anxiety on your mind as to the 
arrangements for clerical action during your absence. 



342 MEMOIR OF 

" The resolution respecting your clerical functions, affec- 
tionately offered, and unanimously adopted, -while it may 
operate as a wholesome restraint on your known ardor in 
the service of our Lord and Master, in which you have so 
often periled your immediate safety, is not intended to inter- 
fere with your clerical independence or your conscientious- 
ness, but will be taken, I trust, as it was intended, as an 
expression of affectionate solicitude for your welfare, and a 
desire to preserve for the greatest possible length of time 
the life and the ability which have, under God, so much con- 
tributed to the extension of his kingdom and the prosperity 
of the Church. 

" Requested to convey to you, dear sir, the expression of 
a people's solicitude, I beg to add my own affectionate 

respects. 

c; Very faithfully yours, etc., 

"J. K. Mitchell." 

"At a meeting of the pewholders of St. Andrew's Church, 
held in the Church on Monday the 7th July, 1834, Dr. J. 
K. Mitchell -tfas chosen Chairman, and George Hawkins, 
Secretary. 

" The following motion, offered by Mr. Caleb S. New- 
bold, and seconded by Mr. Israel Kinsman, was unanimously 
adopted : 

"Resolved, That the vestry be authorized by this congre- 
gation to assess on each sitting a tax, not exceeding one 
dollar per annum, for two years, so as to enable them to 
make the necessary repairs, and to cleanse and paint the 
church. 

" On motion of Mr. Newbold, and seconded by Mr. Kins- 
man, it was unanimously Resolved, that in order to make 
the improvements suggested in the foregoing resolution, that 
the church be closed for eight weeks, from Sunday, the 
13th inst. 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 343 

" On motion of Mr. Porter, seconded by Mr. Robins, it 
was unanimously Resolved, that the Chairman of this meet- 
ing be requested to express to the Rev. Dr. Bedell the 
wishes of the congregation, that he would confine his clerical 
duties during the period which the church is closed, to such 
occasions as he might deem consistent with a due regard to 
his health. 

"Adjourned. 

" George Hawkins, Secretary." 



'-j- 



Dr. Bedell left Philadelphia, on his projected journey to 
Bedford, on the 7th of July. On the next day he addressed 
the following friendly communication to me. He had sent 
me, on the Sunday previous, in the city, a message of admo- 
nition for what he thought unnecessary labor on my part, in 
the new church which was then just starting into existence 
under my ministry, and urged me to undertake a journey 
also, proposing as an object, the collecting of funds for 
Bristol College. When he returned to Bristol he renewed 
the subject in this letter. This was the last letter which I 
received from him, except a few lines of the 5th of August, 
from Bedford, announcing to me his arrival there. It shows 
to what extent his heart was the property of his friends, 
even amidst his own extreme weakness and suffering. 

" My Dear Brother : 

" I fulfill my promise, and sure that you will give me 
credit for the sincerest friendship, whatever weight you may 
give my arguments, I go on. 

" 1. By commencing now you give yourself to labor 
during an exhausting season, and when your church is done 
go to it with diminished strength, instead of fresh and vigor- 
ous efforts. 

" 2. Your preaching all summer in your lecture-room 
will not be to twenty people, who will form your subsequent 



344 MEMOIR OF 

congregation. Your audience wiH be stragglers from other 
churches, boys and girls, apprentices and servants. All this 
I know by exjierience, and you will learn it by the same 
sure teacher, if your zeal carries you on. 

" 8. My Church is to be closed — my people love to hear 
you — they will, in spite of every thing, fill up every nook 
and corner of your room, and you will simply be preaching 
to certain of St. Andrew's people, to whom you may do 
good, but who will render you no return. 

" Do, dear brother, be persuaded to save your strength, 
and be less anxiously careful. You do not exhibit as much 
faith as I had hoped to see. I am fully persuaded, that if 
you would leave your Church more in the Lord's hands, 
and give your energy to that which would do good to the 
Lord's cause, by building up Bristol College — I am per- 
suaded, I say, that the Epiphany would reap the advantage. 

" Sick and suffering, with no strength or breath, I have 
written these few lines, believe me, in love, and from a 
sense of duty. 

" Your Friend most truly, 

" G. T. Bedell." 

Mrs. Bedell thus continues her description of the journey 
on which they had entered : 

" Thus was I determinately shutting my eyes to all clan- 
ger, and strengthening myself in the belief that could we 
get to Bedford Springs he would return in comparative 
health. It is due to the tried friendship of Dr. M. to state 
that he did what he could, in a delicate manner, to make 
me understand his views of the case, and to express his 
fears that the journey would not have the effect I antici- 
pated ; but I was not in a state to listen to any thing. Our 
mutual friend at length kindly yielded to my solicitations 
not to oppose the journey. When I recollect how I shrunk 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 345 

from what I was forced to see he desired to communicate, 
and repelled the expression of that opinion which for twelve 
years I had listened to with deference, I am amazed. A 
shuddering passed over me which I can never forget, that 
any being should wish to tear from me my last hope, while 
I answered, £ This is but an opinion, and while no human 
judgment is infallible, I have a hope that the Lord, in whose 
hands he is, and who has all power, will yet raise him and 
add years to his valuable life.' The knowledge that many 
of his plans were yet unaccomplished, enabled me to com- 
fort myself in the belief that the life of this faithful servant, 
who had been strengthened to do so much in feeble health, 
would yet be prolonged to finish his projected labors. Thus 
I clung to hope with all the desperation of a drowning man 
to his last support. Although greatly agitated after this 
conversation, I soon reasoned myself out of every fear ; and 
in a few days after this Sabbath we commenced the journey. 
For one week we rode about and kept within thirty miles 
of the city, as we had promised our friends to do, until we 
ascertained how he would bear the fatigue of riding. We 
at length reached Lancaster on Saturday afternoon, where 
we heard so much in addition to the information we had 
formerly received respecting the wonderful cures effected 
by the use of the waters at Bedford, that we determined to 
go on without farther delay. We left there the following 
Monday and arrived at the Springs on Saturday night, a 
distance of one hundred and forty miles. Your dear broth- 
er's health was evidently improved ; he had more strength, 
a good appetite, and good spirits. The journey, considered 
alone, was truly delightful, the accommodations excellent, 
the roads generally good, and the weather agreeably warm 
and uninterruptedly pleasant. In glowing language, the 
night of his arrival, did he pour forth the feelings of a 
grateful heart to the Giver of all good for his unmerited 
mercies towards us, particularlv during this long journey." 
15* 



346 MEMOIR OF 

On their way to Bedford. Mrs. B. wrote to some mem 
bers of the Sewing Society of St. Andrew's Church, and he 
requested her to send the following message from himself: 
"Remember me affectionately to them all and tell them I 
hope, as members of the flock of which I am the shepherd, 
they may ever be found foremost in the ranks of piety and 
beneficence," 

On the 5th of August, he wrote me a few lines from Bed- 
ford, saying simply that he had arrived there in far more 
comfort than he had expected. To this short letter I replied 
in what proved to be my last letter to him, of which the 
following passages are short extracts : 

i; Philadelphia, August 9, 1S34. 
" My very Dear Brother : 

" I have this morning received your welcome letter of the 
5th. The only reason why I have not gratified my wish in 
writing to you has been that I was utterly at a loss t© what 
quarter to direct my letter. Your having been able to 
reach Bedford has much encouraged me. I had no expecta- 
tion you would find yourself competent to finish the journey 
over the mountains, and I am much in hope that you will 
.find the result in considerable, if not in permanent benefit. 
All our concerns have been going on well since you left us. 
The annual meeting : of the Board of Trustees* was well 
attended, and the exercises of the next day have given us a 
reputation which could hardly have been expected. It is 
certain that the result shows a character in our Faculty and 
in our system for which we have reason to be very grateful. 
* * * St. Andrew's is fast putting on a new coat, not to be a 
turncoat, I hope, but certainly to come out in a new charac- 
ter. Oh ! that it were as easy to renew, my dear brother, 
its pastor ! But there will be yet. a putting on of wings as 

* Of Bristol CoHege. 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 347 

an eagle, for him. God mercifully delay the hour for us, 
though well may it be hastened for him ! Few of your con- 
gregation are now in the city. I saw but very few of them 
at the opening of the Epiphany, last Sunday. I am thank- 
ful to tell you, that our room was well filled, and mainly 
of people entirely new to me, mostly from the neighbor- 
hood. *-*"*.* How much contentions and cares around us 
lead the mind forward to a home of peace ! It is hard to 
conceive how so much that is wrong, as we find in ourselves, 
and see in others, can consist with a Christian character. 
But the Lord knoweth them that are his, and the time will 
come, that every one who is named by the name of Christ, 
shall depart from all iniquity. I am thankful that you are 
not deprived, through your sickness, of all comfort, The 
Lord will stand by yon to the uttermost. If it shall be his 
gracious will to give you back to us, yet for a time, we shall 
praise him even at your expense. If your work and your 
time have both been finished, I need not tell you that hardly 
one other surviving being will feel the deprivation more 
sensibly and painfully than myself But, dear brother, be 
of good cheer. Every circumstance that has thus far occur- 
red with you, is highly encouraging. The same hand which 
has carried you out, is able to bring you back ; and when 
all is done, can and will carry you home to Zion, with songs 
and everlasting joy upon your head. 

" With much love, and many prayers for you all, I am, 
in peculiar bonds, 

" Your Brother, 

" Stephen H. Tyxg." 

Mrs. Bedell continues : 

u We took lodgings in the town of Bedford, in order to 
be near medical advice, about three quarters of a mile from 
the Springs. During the first week I was very unwell, a 
part of the time confined to the bed, but your dear brother 



348 MEMOIR OF 

was so much better during that time, that he rode to the 
Springs several times, and joined the family at meals, al- 
though there were long stairs to descend, and even played 
on an instrument of music, which stood in one of the par- 
lors. As soon as I recovered, he proposed trying the 
waters ; but after the third day, he complained of an un- 
pleasant sensation in his head, and determined to take no 
more. Very soon after this it was thought necessary to 
administer several doses of medicine, which were too irritat- 
ing for his system, and appeared to me to have been the 
cause of a fever which followed, and which alarmed the 
physician so much, that he took an early apportunity to ad- 
vise me to return home as soon as possible, remarking at 
the same time, that the appearance of fever had changed his 
view of the case, and he did not think his visits could be 
any longer useful. 

" It would not be possible adequately to describe the state 
of my mind on receiving this information ; but I did not 
sink under it. The long-cherished hope that death had not 
yet marked him for his victim again came to my aid ; and 
the idea that the physician might be mistaken, from having 
no previous knowledge of his constitution, supported me, 
while I answered, ' Indeed you are not aware how readily 
his system yields to what is offensive or congenial. If all 
this should be the effect of medicine, he may soon recover 
from it.' 

"He remarked, as wishing to comfort me, that if the fever 
materially abated the following day, it would give him a 
more favorable opinion of the Case. 

" He then left me, and after remaining a short time to 
force a composure I could not feel, I endeavored to enter the 
sick chamber of my dear husband as if nothing had occurred, 
and attend as usual to his every want, absenting myself at 
times only, to give a momentary vent to a heart burthened 
with its own sorrows. Sad, sad forebodings continued to 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 349 

obtrude themselves upon me, though I in vain endeavored 
to suppress them. In vain I struggled to forget that I was 
two hundred miles from Philadelphia, without a friend to 
advise with, and my son a mere inexperienced lad, who was 
to be our only companion in the long journey before us. 
Distressed and agitated, not a glimmering ray of hope could 
I discover ; despondency \ which I thought I was proof against, 
seemed inevitable. 

" But at this very moment, when all earthly support had 
failed, and even the recollection of former resolutions availed 
me nothing, the ''all-seeing Eye teas upon one;'' the 'Friend 
c who sticketh closer than a brother,' was near. The 
4 strength from above,' made perfect in weakness, was 
sweetly proffered in the following lines, which fell into my 
hands at this moment in a very ordinary way. I had picked 
up an old newspaper to put it out of the way, when my 
attention was arrested by them. 

1 Does each day upon its wing, 
It's allotted burden bring ? 
Load it not besides with sorrow, 
"Which belongeth to the morrow. 
Strength is promised, strength is given-. 
When the heart by God is riven; 
But foredate the day of wo, 
And olone thou bear'st the blow. 
One thing only claims thy care, 
Seek thou first "by faith and prayer, 
That all-glorious world above, 
Scene of righteousness and love ; 
And what e'er thou need'st below, 
He thou trustest will bestow.' 

"In these lines I was forcibly reminded that my duty as 
a Christian was with the pre 'sent, and not the future. 'Suf- 
ficient for the day is the evil thereof When God sees fit 
really to send affliction upon his children, lie will send 



350 MEMOIR OF 

strength sufficient for the trial. My faith was strengthened 
in the Lord. In a review of my duty to him. I found the 
comfort I had before sought in vain. These lines became 
my constant companion, faithfully pointing to a never-failing 
support. I was now enabled to turn my attention to the 
next most important duty, but here mercy and goodness 
again directed me. or I should have been discouraged in the 
undertaking, so dark did every thing appear. 

" It became necessary to bring about an early departure 
from Bedford, without referring to the cause ; this was dif- 
ficult, because my dear husband had determined, only a few 
days before, to remain three weeks longer. Here appeared 
to be difficulties quite insurmountable, but the hearer and 
answerer of prayer made the way easy for his poor, dis- 
consolate child. A gentleman remarked, in the course of 
the evening, that the town was considered unhealthy, and 
many had intended to leave ; this was all that I could desire. 
An early da}" was immediately fixed for our departure. 

" The physician was amazed to find that in twenty-four 
hours after his last visit all appearance of fever had very 
much subsided, and recommended a ride to the Springs, 
judging that distance to be the extent that his patient could 
bear ; but on his return hi the evening, he exhibited much 
more astonishment to find that he had ridden ten miles, 
made a visit, and did not lie down immediately on returning. 
This circumstance so encouraged the physician that he ex- 
pressed a desire to me that we would remain a few weeks 
longer, remarking that he would like to look into his case 
further. However, it was too late ; for although the re- 
quest was calculated to stay my sinking hope, the recent 
alarm had been so great, that I did not feel willing to remain 
so far from home, and made no proposal to remain longer ; 
we therefore left there on Tuesday, the third week in August. 
It being rather earlv to return to the city, vour dear brother 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 351 

determined to take a circuitous route, and visit whatever 
was worth seeing on the journey." 

On Dr. Bedell's departure from Bedford, he presented to 
Dr. Watson, his medical attendant there, a book, as a testi- 
monial of his gratitude and regard, and wrote in its blank 
leaf, the following note ; — it was the last thing he ever wrote. 
How affecting does it now become, from the fact, that Dr. 
W. passed from time into eternity also, a little more than a 
year after himself ! 

" To Doctor Watson, from G. T. Bedell, as a token of 
his regard for the tenderness and kindness of his medical 
attentions, during the sickness which Dr. B. experienced at 
Bedford. Dr. Bedell hopes that its perusal will be the 
means, hi the. hand of God, of cheering and animating what- 
ever Christian sensibilities may already exist, and of perfect- 
ing that which may be wanting. It is a precious book, full 
of original treatment, of the oldest subject in the world, and 
yet so plain, and its illustrations so exquisitely true to na- 
ture, that none can rise from its perusal uninstructed. May 
Dr. W. find it instructive and personally useful." 

I proceed again with Mrs. Bedell's letter. 

" The restlessness of disease, which attaches sickly asso- 
ciation to every familiar object, determined him to return 
to Philadelphia by the way of Baltimore. The idea of pass- 
ing through a land of strangers again, in his feeble state, 
was a distressing circumstance to me. In our journey to 
Bedford, by the way of Lancaster and Harrisburg, almost 
every one seemed to exhibit more or less sympathy and 
interest, and whenever his name was discovered, this inte- 
rest was evidently increased, so that I felt we should have 
been in a measure among friends, could we have returned 
the same way. However, I acquiesced with reluctance, and 



352 MEMOIR OF 

we reached Hagarstown without fatigue on "Wednesday. 
From hence my dear husband had intended to visit Harper's 
Ferry, but he was seized with a singular sensation in the 
stomach, attended with pain in swallowing, which seemed to 
arise from obstruction. This circumstance induced him to 
hasten to Baltimore, in order to be able to leave there on 
Monday for Philadelphia, unless he felt better. We arrived 
at Frederiektown on Friday, and took passage in the rail- 
road car on Saturday, to facilitate our arrival at Baltimore. 
It proved a very fatiguing ride ; the car was a wretched one, 
and being too near the engine, and on the wrong side of the 
car, he was annoyed with the gas, dust, steam, and sun. "We 
arrived in Baltimore about three o'clock ; he was very much 
overcome with fatigue, but a refreshing night's rest restored 
him in a great measure, and the following day, a friend who 
had not seen him since the spring thought him better than 
at that time. I felt all my hopes return again, and believed 
that he would reap the benefit of the journey after he re- 
turned home, and be spared many years to us yet. He felt 
encouraged himself, and gave up his intention of returning 
home on Monday, and accepted the kind invitation of his 
friend Mr. Boyle to pass a few days at his house. 

" He joined us on Sunday at each meal, sat at the head 
of the dinner-table, and after dinner, remained an hour con- 
versing with a friend. Again, after tea, Dr. Wyatt called, 
and he did not retire for the night till near nine o'clock, and 
rested well. The following morning he arose to breakfast, 
but had no appetite ; complained of excessive debility and 
an indescribable sensation at the stomach. I know of no 
probable cause for this sudden change, unless it was the 
great change in the weather which took place in the night. 
from excessive heat to a degree of cold that required a 
change of clothing. I became alarmed, and sent for the 
physician, Doctor Buckler, of Baltimore, who had visited 
him on Sunday, the day before. I observed him writing 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 



353 



several times, raid when Dr. B. came, lie read the paper, 
which was merely memoranda of what lie wished to say, 
perhaps written lest he should forget, under a sense of 
extreme exhaustion. He commenced by saying, ' Doctor, 
I shall not live to get home, I feel so strangely.' The phy- 
sician felt his pulse, smiled at him, and said that he saw no 
material change, and no reason for such an opinion ; gave 
him some tonic, and promised to see him at Mr. Boyle's, 
in the afternoon. He rode to Mr. Boyle's, in time for din- 
ner, and spoke of taking a ride in the afternoon, to call on 
Mrs. H , from Philadelphia, a member of his congrega- 
tion, then on a visit to a friend a few miles from Baltimore. 
After dinner, he retired to his chamber to take some rest, 
after which he found himself too feeble to make any further 
effort that day. 

* * * "A veil, impenetrable as yet, mercifully hung 
between me and the future. I saw not distinctly the storm 
that was about to burst upon me. I trembled and hoped 
alternately, while I remembered that my duty was with the 
present. I tried to believe that we should be at home on 
Saturday, which opinion the physician encouraged. 

" This was all right, and ordered by a Father's hand who 
cared for the comfort of his faithful servant ; but for this 
strange blindness, and for this unwarrantable hope, I should 
have sunk, and the hands of a stranger must have minis- 
tered to his wants. I shall never cease to thank the Lord 
for these his special mercies to the departing saint. 

" On Wednesday, he complained of nausea ; this was a 
new symptom, and one that he had all his life particularly 
dreaded. When I discovered this, I unconsciously lost my 
self-possession, and as his head rested on my shoulder, he 
discovered it, and merely remarked, c My love, this will not 
do ; you know my nervous temperament ; I must have ano- 
ther nurse, if you can not control your feelings.' 

" When the physician came again, he comforted me with 



854 • MEMOIR OF 

the hope that he was no worse ; he changed his medicines, 
and things wore a brighter aspect, until Friday, just before 
day. I had been, while he seemed to be in a sweet sleep, 
packing a box of medicines, in order that some preparation 
might be made at every leisure hour for our departure, still 
hoping that on Saturday or Sunday we should be able to 
leave, when I offered him some nourishment, and found he 
could not speak above a whisper. On inquiring the cause, 
he answered with perfect composure, 'I have lost my voice, 
my love.' My alarm was almost past control. I sent 
instantly for the doctor. When he came in, I was at a dis- 
tant part of the room, preparing some medicine. The low 
sound I caught was the following remark, uttered with the 
calmness and sweetness of an angel : ' Oh ! doctor, I had 
hoped to have seen my home once more ; I have a precious 
child there, whom I have not seen for six weeks. Oh ! you 
do not know how dear she is to me.' I flew to the bed, and 
said, in my usual cheerful manner, though terrified lest all 
hope was gone, ' Oh ! do not speak so despondingly ; we 
expect to leave here on Saturday. 5 I cast my eyes on the 
physician for his assent to this, but I saw no look of encou- 
ragement. I dared not trust my voice. I traced with a 
pencil what my tongue could not utter. An answer was 
instantly returned in the same manner, but I dared not look 
at it. I left the room lest my feelings should be betrayed. 
I read it ; a stone sunk into my heart — l Yes, if you wish 
your child to come, lose no time.' Here was the long- 
dreaded moment, the death-blow to all my fondly cherished 
hopes ; and the admonition, ' lose no time,' was the only 
thing that saved my reason. It presented an object. My 
family could see our idol if I lost no time, though my feet 
seemed nailed to the spot, and no outward object discerni- 
ble from the dreadful anguish within. I at length made my 
way to my son, and with subdued tone of voice, I told him 
my intention to send for the family, requested him to go to 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 355 

bed, get what sleep he could, it being then four o'clock, and 
go in the steamboat at five to Philadelphia. I gave him 
other necessary instructions, but carefully concealed the 
extent of our sorrows, lest he should be unable to go, or 
my sister and daughter disabled from coming. 

" I returned to the chamber of death ; the effort I had 
made seemed to have destroyed all power of sensation. I 
moved about like an automaton, and scarcely knew any 
thing distinctly, until the physician came again. He found 
the remedies he made use of a few hours before had pro- 
duced a favorable change. I was again revived; hope came 
to my relief, and I was enabled assiduously to devote myself 
to his every comfort, as heretofore. To be permitted to 
hope from the slightest premises, produced feelings of satis- 
faction and gratitude too big for utterance, the recollection 
of which can never be obliterated— any thing was seized 
with the greatest avidity, that could silence the dreaded 
sound of 'All is over P 

" Doctor B., the physician, expressed a desire that he 
should take as much nourishment as possible ; but no 
entreaties would prevail with him to receive any thing but 
ice ; being perfectly aware that his end was near, he seemed 
unwilling to disturb the tranquil state in which he desired to 
depart ; he had no wish to add an hour to life, and therefore 
would not receive nourishment at the risk of producing 
nausea, connected with positive pain in swallowing. To be 
allowed perfect quiet was all he desired, wdrile patiently 
awaiting the coming of his Master. When we had ceased 
all importunity, he looked so perfectly tranquil that you 
might almost have imagined him lying in his usual manner 
on his own sofa, resting from the fatigue of one of his many 
walks from his dear St. Andrew's. When Dr. Henshaw 
had reminded him, some time before, that if he had any 
thing to communicate, he had better improve the present 
time, he seemed to have nothing on his mind ; his worldly 



358 MEMOIR OF 

cares sat so lightly upon him, that they were like an upper 
garment, easily thrown off when found to impede his pro- 
gress heaven ward. But at this time, when none were pre- 
sent but myself, he saM to me in a whisper, for his voice 
was entirely gone, ' Take your pencil and write what I may 
be able to say in short sentences/ His heart seemed to 
overflow with love, and his first effort was to relieve it by 
recalling almost every act of kindness that he had ever 
received, and returning his love and thanks to each indi- 
vidual by name, and to others collectively ; among the lat- 
ter, he named his vestry, his Sunday-school teachers, the 
choir of his church, and you. Among the former were some 
particular friends named among the vestry, his physician, 
Dr. M., some of his brethren in the ministry, and two of 
his communicants whom he left sick in Philadelphia ; to 
some he sent long and interesting messages, and particularly 
recommended Bristol College to the attention of such as he 
thought felt an interest in it. ' I can say no more, my 
love : if I have forgotten any one who ever did me a kind- 
ness, I leave it with you to say all for me.* After a few 
moments, he named his own family; left a memento for 
each of his children, with some directions, and desired that 
their talent for music should be cultivated, particularly his 
daughter's, referring to the pleasure he had derived from 
this source. 

" He then spoke of both his sisters with great affection, 
desired his love, and wished the " Souvenir'' to be sent to 
them as soon as it should come out. and then requested me 
to write immediately to let them know that he was about to 
exchange mortality for eternal life. He seemed to recollect 
that I might be unable when all was over, and hastily added 
— ' Do it now, my love, now.' This indescribable effort, 
you know, I was enabled to make ; for the desire to gratify 
his every wish overcame every other feeling. My object in 
relating these little circumstances is the hope of giving you 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 357 

some faint idea of his perfect tranquility of mind. These 
departing messages seemed portentous, but I staid myself 
upon the physician's remark,. 'He is better, beyond my 
expectations,' and remembered he was in the hands of the 
Lord, who could do all things. I believe, indeed, that I 
looked for a miracle, though at the time unconscious of it. 

" He then drew me near to him, and endeavored to arti- 
culate that which he had reserved to the last, and which 
would have been dearer to me than all ; but he was too 
much exhausted ; and although he repeated the attempt once 
or twice afterwards, I could hear nothing distinctly. *You 
may imagine my feelings when I found it was in vain ; but 
I was enabled to leave it all to unerring wisdom. Hereafter 
I shall hear in sweeter accents what he was not permitted to 
utter for my comfort on earth. 

" He had evidently failed since the morning, though I 
dared not trust myself to think so. I dreaded the confirma- 
tion that the next visit of the physician might bring. 

" The physician came at noon. He looked grave, but i 
did not dare to ask him a question. He passed out without 
exchanging a look or a word. I sat mournfully watching 
the heavenly countenance of my husband, while he appeared 
to sleep. Suddenly he opened his eyes, apparently with much 
surprise and disappointment, and said, in a hollow, low voice, 
1 The Lord's will be done, but it seems to me this is coming 
back to the world again.' Amazed and almost overpowered, 
I said, 'My love, what do you mean? Have you been 
dreaming V ' No, I have not been dreaming, but somethiug 
seemed to say things are better with me.' Although there 
was in him an air of disappointment and resignation com- 
bined, joy and awe filled my heart, and I exclaimed with 
Jacob of old, Surely the Lord is in this place ; he hath 
heard my prayer, and sent an answer of peace. I felt an 
assurance of his recovery from that time, and was again able 
almost to be a cheerful nurse. The hours passed mournfully 



358 MEMOIR OF 

on, till about one o'clock Saturday morning, when Dr. H. 
having yielded to my solicitations to rest himself in the easy- 
chair in the far part of the room, being fatigued, had fallen 
asleep, the silence of death reigned, interrupted only by the 
labored breathing of the departing saint. The low light 
glimmering in the corner cast forth long and dim shadows, 
when in the cold clammy hand, upon which my face rested, 
was evidence too strong to be resisted, that death had now 
marked his victim : it could not be mistaken. The cold 
corpse must speedily lie there, when the soul, triumphant 
over death, should obey the welcome summons — 'Arise and 
come away.' Here, then, was the dreadful hour ! The 
cloud, long gathering blackness, was prepared to burst over 
my head, and in awful anticipation, I thought, must over- 
whelm me. 

"All hope of life was now at once and entirely torn from 
my lacerated heart, but a healing balm was prepared for the 
wound : the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of 
praise for heaviness. 

" I had prayed for temporal life for my beloved husband, 
but the Lord gave life eternal, and with it such a sense of 
his goodness, that I exclaimed, c The Lord hath been better 
to me than my prayers.' Such rich manifestation of his 
love was vouchsafed to me, that all rebellion was hushed, the 
cross was hid, and my heart so filled with sweet submission, 
that to lie passive in his hands, and know no will but his 
bound every wish of my heart. I could almost in imagina- 
gination hear the dying saint before me say : 

" 'Home, home, its glorious threshold 
Through opening clouds I see ; 
Those mansions by a Saviour bought, 
"Where I have longed to be. 

" ' G-ive thanks, my mourning dear one, ^ 
Thanks to the eternal king, 
Who crowns my soul with victory, 

And rends from death liis stin^ ' 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 359 

Thus, through all my trials, was I upheld. ' The deep waters 
shall not overflow thee ; as thy day is so shall thy strength 
be ;' and richly have I experienced the fulfillment of these 
blessed promises. Great was the mercy of the Lord in 
upholding me to perform my duties to the last, and great 
was the honor he conferred upon me in permitting me to 
administer comfort to the departing saint, until he joined 
that holy throng ' who shall hunger no more, neither thirst 
**iy more, neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat, 
for & e Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed 
them.' 

" Often wq. s I tempted to look in imagination through the 
dark cloud that I constantly saw before me, but as often did 
faithful conscience remind me of the threat — 

" 'Foredate the clay of wo, 

And alone thou boarest the blow.' 

The glimmering of hope arising from the various changes in 
his disease was my only support, while I rested my all on 
Christ my Saviour, for he hath compassion on our infirmities, 
and does not try us above what we are able to bear. 

" The constant desire I felt that no strange hand should 
smooth the pillow of my beloved, acted also as a strong 
stimulus to keep me from sinking ; for often, very often, 
did he express the desire that I would strive to retain my 
strength for his comfort ; and not until the last day, when 
he had lost all power, was I obliged to ask assistance even 
to raise him. My strength had been sufficient for every thing 
until then. 

" Often, when his eyes were cast upon me, and seemed to 
beam rays of heavenly meekness, I imagined I could hear 
him say, ' Oh ! that I had wings like a dove, I would flee 
away and be at rest ;' then, as if fearing death would come 
at his bidding, I would whisper to him, and beg him to pray 
for submission to wait patiently for the arrival of his family, 



360 



MEMOIR OF 



and not deprive them of their last comfort. At length his 
look seemed to reproach me, as if he thought my prayers 
detained him here. I was overcome. I laid down my arms 
of rebellion,' this my last wish, that he might live to see his 
family on earth, and exclaimed, ' Yes, go, my love ; we will 
soon be reunited for ever, and I can praise God hi higher 
strains when all his will is done. 5 The sweet expression of 
love and gratitude that followed this remark could only be 
equalled by that angelic expression of countenance that w<? 
all loved to look upon, and to linger near, after life had 
departed, when the sweet strain of his golden h*rp had 
joined hi the song of the Lamb. 

" He soon after this exclaimed, looking intently at me, 
' Where is your new song % Grace, £ race 5 is the topmost 
stone.' I remarked, that the joy I had experienced in 
witnessing his calmness, composure, and blissful antici- 
pations, could not be equalled by any thing this world could 
offer, and that my heart was filled with praise. He cautioned 
me with his usual prudence, not to be too much elated, but 
to endeavor to be prepared for any event, saying, ' I may 
yet have my dark moments.' The fear of this, however, did 
not rest on my mind, for I well remembered the advice he 
had given to a friend a few months before, who was mourn- 
ing over his own want of evidence at times, ' My friend, you 
should meet the enemy by bearing in mind that you are on 
the right foundation.' 

" One circumstance more I must mention as proof of his 
unvarying composure and readiness to teach, even on the 
verge of the grave. I had often remarked, that I believed 
in many cases the mental vision increased as things of sense 
faded before the bodily eye. In connection with this precon- 
ceived opinion, I inquired of him, when he laid one hand on 
mine, and with the other pointed upwards, 4 Do you now 
see your Saviour V He instantly brought his finger to the 
heart, evidently with the intention of correcting this erro- 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 861 

neous idea, and thus, in language unutterable, emphatically 
saying, ' No, Jesus is felt here ;' and then, raising his 
whole arm higher and higher, moving it in a circle, with the 
finger pointing upwards, as if in triumph over sin and death, 
he as impressively as before communicated the idea, ' But I 
shall soon be with Him whom my soul loveth, and then I 
shall seeS He remarked about daylight, on seeing Mr. 
Boyle, Dr. Henshaw, and myself anxiously watching him, 
' My friends, you think I am dying, but I do not ; I feel no 
change.' About four hours after this he said, with perfect 
calmness, turning his face to me, ■ Now I am going, I feel 
an entire change ; how soon will my dear family be here V 
On being told, not in six hours, he said, ; I shall not see 
them on earth. 5 On being asked if he wished to leave any 
message, he said nothing. 

" Soon after this he gave further evidence of the tranquil 
state of his mind. A little noise awoke him from a doze ; 
he exclaimed, - My dear ones have come ;' and then address- 
ing me, he said, - My love, see that I am not disturbed, pre- 
pare them for the scene, and let one come in at a time. 5 

" On finding he was mistaken, he became sweetly resigned 
to the will of the Lord, and expressed his comfort in the 
joy that awaited him ; he thanked the Lord for his mercies 
to his unworthy creature, and said again, as if fearing that 
I could not bear a change, ' Be prepared, my love, I may have 
my dark moments yet. 5 No doubt he then recollected the 
trials which many saints in their last moments have been 
called to endure. Always after this last reference to the 
temptations of the enemy, he would meekly answer to the 
question, ' Are you still at peace V c Yes, sweetly resting 
on my Saviour, as yet? — evidently expecting and watching 
against an attack, from which, however, he was mercifully 
spared. He lingered longer than he expected, and when 
roused to consciousness, several times inquired, ' How lon^; 
will it be before this frail tenement will burst, and let mv 
16 



862 MEMOIR OF 

spirit free?' He made his last effort in a deep-toned, 
hollow voice, to give his rich testimony to the Gospel, and 
to leave a message to his brethren. After this he spoke 
no more, but answered every inquiry by signs, almost to 
his last breath. No doubts were permitted to darken his 
mind, and he soon fell asleep in Jesus. Several times dur- 
ing the last day he said, ' Do not leave me, love, 5 although 
I was standing close by him, and had not left him for a 
moment. This no doubt stimulated me to make greater 
efforts, for I continually assured him that I would not, and 
I was strengthened to watch every receding breath, as they 
grew fainter and fainter, till with my own hands I closed 
his eyes in death ; and while I embraced his lifeless corpse., 
I sorrowed not as those without hope. 

" I must not omit to mention one circumstance, because 
it proves how much more exceeding abundantly the Lord 
can do for us than we can either ask or think. 

" My petitions to the throne of grace had been three-fold ; 
first, that the life of my dear husband might be spared ; 
second, that he should live to reach his earthly home once 
more ; third, that at least he might be spared to see his 
family. 

"To the first I was entirely reconciled by the aid of 
divine grace. To the last, by the same strength, I resigned 
my will ; but that he was not permitted to die at his own 
home, in the bosom of his family, and amidst his beloved 
congregation, appeared to me to be a dark providence. 
But after I had been at home a few days, and experienced 
the kindness of a sympathizing congregation, I saw in this 
dispensation another link in the chain of mercies that had 
surrounded us. It had been the oft-repeated wish of my 
dear husband, from the time that he knew his departure 
was at hand, that he might be kept perfectly tranquil, in 
order that he might go out of the world in the full pos- 
session of his mind. 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 363 

"In the situation in which we had been providentially 
placed, this was accomplished without difficulty. The family 
of Mr. B. had not returned from their summer excursion ; 
that we were in Baltimore was not known, consequently 
none were present at the last trying scene but Mr. B., 
Dr. H., and myself I had been so long in the habit of 
suppressing my feelings, that not a tear or groan escaped 
until he was in those regions where sorrows never reach. 

" This was the kind providence of God alone, for it had 
been our desire to have reached home, and had we done so, 
how different would have been the scene. Afflicted friends 
would have crowded around the dying-bed. Many who 
had longed to see how such a man would die, could not 
have been denied. The heart-rending sobs of affectionate 
and devoted children, about to be written fatherless, would 
have reached his ears, and the calm serenity of his last 
hours must have been disturbed. Oh ! what a mercy it is 
that we are not left to direct for ourselves. 

" Surely, the Lord raised him up to do his peculiar work ; 
he strengthened him to accomplish the portion he assigned 
him in the midst of a life of pain and sickness ; he comforted 
him in his death, and then took him to himself." 

In connection with this deeply interesting statement of the 
last hours of Dr. Bedell, I insert also the following letter 
addressed to me from the Eev. Dr. Henshaw, of Baltimore, 
who was permitted to attend upon him in this interesting 
crisis of his life. 

"Baltimore, Sept. 2, 1834. 
" Rev. and Dear Sir : 

" Being returned home, after having performed the painful 
duty of accompanying the bereaved family and earthly 
remains of our dear friend and brother, the Rev. Dr. Bedell, 
to Philadelphia, I now undertake to comply with the request 
made by yourself and others, that I would give a brief 



364 MEMOIR OF 

account of some of the most interesting incidents connected 
with the closing scene of his holy and useful life, which I 
had the melancholy satisfaction of witnessing. 

? I count it as a peculiar privilege from the Lord, that I 
was allowed, in some humble measure, to minister to the 
relief and consolation of a Christian brother, whom I so 
cordially loved : — and a still greater privilege, that I was 
permitted to behold and adore the rich grace of our Lord 
Jesus Christ in him. enabling him is death to rest on the 
same sure foundation — to exult in the same precious hope. 
and confirm the same evangelical doctrines which it had 
been the business of his life to recommend to others. May 
the holy impression left upon my heart by the affecting scene 
through which I have lately been called to pass, never be 
effaced, but become more solemn and vivid every day. in- 
citing my sluggish soul to increasing zeal and diligence in 
my Master's cause, so that, through his infinite merit and 
grace. I may enjoy the same undisturbed tranquillity with 
which my departed friend was favored, when the same com- 
mand which he has already obeyed, shall be addressed to 
me — ' Give an account of thy stewardship. 9 

"I cannot engage to present a full account of the remarks 
and conversation of our deceased brother during Iris last 
hours : for. though he labored under a physical inability to 
say much, yet there were many things full of piety and con- 
solation spoken to his faithful and affectionate wife, which. 
owing to the feebleness of his voice. I did not hear : but so 
far as I am enabled to state them, you may depend upon 
a faithful report, because they were committed to writing 
almost immediately after his decease, when the impression 
was strong and fresh on my mind. 

** Dr. Bedell arrived in Baltimore, with his wife and son. 
on their return homewards from Bedford Springs. Saturday. 
23rd August, in the afternoon. Owing to his long ride of 
sixty miles on the rail-road, exposed to the gas. and dust. 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 365 

and heat of the weather, he was then in a state of great 
debility and exhaustion. 

" Calling upon him in the evening as soon as I heard of 
his arrival in town, I found hirn in too weak a state to con- 
verse much, and apparently sensible that the period of his 
dissolution was rapidly approaching. In answer to an in- 
quiry of mine whether he had derived any benefit from his 
journey, he replied, c I feel that I am sinking every day.' I 
asked, ' Do you enjoy peace of mind ¥ He immediately 
answered with as much animation as he was capable of at 
the time, ' Yes, my only hope is in Jesus, the Saviour of 
sinners. I am very comfortable — all is peace.' I then took 
my leave, promising to see him on the next day. 

" Owing to my public duties on the Lord's-day, I was un- 
able to see him till between four and five o'clock in the 
afternoon. He had enjoyed a refreshing rest on the Sabbath 
and the preceding night, and appeared to be much better 
than he was the previous evening. I sat with him an hour 
or more, during which time he conversed with me on the 
concerns of his own congregation — the state of the Church 
at large — and points of experimental and practical religion, 
with quite as much interest and strength as he had mani- 
fested during an interview I had with him in his own house, 
in May last. He told me he had determined to spend a few 
days in Baltimore at the house of our friend Mr. Boyle, as 
the physician thought he would derive benefit from rest, 
and could then, with more comfort, prosecute his journey 
home at the close of the week. My visit was, at his request, 
closed with prayer, in which he appeared deeply interested 
and fervently engaged. 

"As I was obliged to go to my family, (who were in the 
country, about twenty miles distant,) on Monday morning, 
I congratulated him on the improvement of his health which 
had taken place since the preceding day, and bade him adieu, 
with the expectation of seeing him again on Wednesday 
evening. 



366 



MEMOIR OF 



"Upon my return to the city on Wednesday, I found 
that he had been removed to Mr. B.'s on Monday morning, 
and was suffering from an attack of diarrhoea, — a common 
and too often fatal symptom of the last stage of the disease 
which had so long preyed upon his system ; but probably 
then occasioned by a great change in the temperature of the 
weather, which had taken place about that time. His state 
was such that I was not admitted to his room that night or 
the following day. I learned, however, in answer to my in- 
quiries, that his disease was progressing, and his strength 
gradually declining. On Friday morning early, Mrs. Bedell 
sent for me ; and from that time, with the exception of an 
hour or two, I remained with our dear brother till his soul 
had entered upon everlasting rest. 

" On my approaching his bed-side he reached out his hand, 
and with an affectionate smile, bade me welcome. But I 
was shocked at beholding the great change which had taken 
place in him since our previous interview. I inquired if his 
sufferings were great, and he assured me that he felt no 
pain; but that in that, as well as other respects, the Lord 
dealt very mercifully with him. When I communicated to 
him the opinion of his physician that he would probably 
survive but a few hours longer, he received it with the most 
perfect composure, and seemed cordially to respond to the 
sentiment of the apostle, which I quoted ; — l For me to live 
is Christ, and to die is gain. To depart and be with Christ, 
is far better.' I then repeated the first line of that beautiful 
hymn, 

1 Jesus, Saviour of my soul, let me to thy bosom fly,' 

and he immediately said with much feeling, ' I will — I do.' 

"Although on account of his great weakness we were un- 
willing to disturb his quiet by asking him questions, or 
making remarks that would require an answer, yet often 
during the day did he express his entire peace of mind and 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 3GT 

unqualified resignation to the Lord's will. At six o'clock 
on Friday morning, his son had gone in the steamboat to 
Philadelphia, for the purpose of bringing on his sister and 
aunt to behold the closing scene. On his wife's inquiring 
whether he was not anxious to see his beloved daughter and 
other absent members of his family, and manifesting her 
own anxiety for their arrival before Iris death, he said it 
would be highly gratifying ; but, added he, c perhaps it is not 
best. If I die now, all is peace — but if I should be spared 
longer, I might have hours of darkness and trial.' He once 
said to me, ' I should now ask you to pray, but for my hys- 
terical constitution, which cannot, in my present state, bear 
the excitement it would produce.'' Frequently, however, his 
hands were clasped together, and his countenance indicated 
a deep engagedness of soul in that holy exercise. 

"At one period, when he was in a state of too much lassi- 
tude and exhaustion to speak, I stood by him and repeated 
the following passages of Scripture, — ■ I am the resurrection 
and the life ; he that belie veth in me, though he were dead, 
yet shall he live ; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me 
shall never die.' — 'I know that my Eedeemer liveth, and 
that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth; and 
though after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my 
flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and 
mine eyes shall behold, and not another.' — 'We know that 
if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we 
have a building of God, an house not made with hands, 
eternal in the heavens.' — • In my Father's house are many 
mansions ; if it were not so, I would have told you ; behold 
I go to prepare a place for you, and will come again and re- 
ceive you to myself, that where I am, there ye may be also.' 
These precious promises, successively repeated after suitable 
intervals, proved to him like refreshing water to a thirsty 
soul. He seized my hand with much emotion, and lifted 
his other hand and his eyes to heaven with a most grateful 



868 MEMOIR OF 

expression, as if he were feasting upon the sweet manna of 
God's word, and looking to one of the promised mansions 
as already prepared for his reception. 

" I was obliged to leave the room of our sick friend at 
half past seven o'clock on Friday evening, to attend my 
stated lecture ; and in our social religious services, the fer- 
vent prayers of many Christian hearts, which had occasion- 
ally been profited and refreshed under his ministry, were, I 
doubt not, in unison with mine, that God would either spare 
his servant for greater usefulness in the church, or strengthen 
and prepare him for the approaching conflict. On returning 
to his sick room after my lecture at about nine o'clock, I 
found him in a state of increased weakness, and thought he 
was sinking fast from that time till near eleven o'clock, but 
still enjoying uninterrupted tranquillity and composure of 
mind. 

" Dr. Buckler, the able and skilful physician who attended 
him with the utmost tenderness and assiduity, now entered, 
and after examining the patient, told me there was a great 
change for the worse. He then proposed, as a means of 
lessening nervous excitement, and procuring for our brother 
a little refreshing rest, to administer an anodyne, containing 
a small portion of laudanum. Dr. Bedell then called me to 
him, and fixing his eyes upon me intently, said, with great 
solemnity, 'Brother Henshaw, is it wrong, when the soul is 
in perfect peace, and ready to depart, to take an anodyne as 
a remedy for the pain of the weak body ? If so, I will not 
do it. For I would not, on any account, do any thing which 
is offensive to God, especially now that I am going out of 
the world.' I answered, that I thought there was nothing 
sinful or improper in the measure proposed, particularly as 
the doctor assured him that the anodyne he designed to 
administer was intended only to soothe his nerves, and would 
not be of sufficient strength to overwhelm his mind, or even 
to cloud or affect it in the least. He then submitted to the 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 369 

proposal of the physician, and addressing himself again to 
me, said, with the same solemn emphasis as before, ' If in 
consequence of this I should be delirious, or flighty, and in 
that state say any thing inconsistent with the Christian pro- 
fession, or dishonorable to the cause of Christ, bear me wit- 
ness that I asked this question. I leave it with you to 
vindicate my character.' 

" The same self-possession, thorough consciousness of his 
situation, and clearness of intellect, which he displayed on 
this occasion, never forsook him, so far as I could perceive, 
to the last, except for a moment, as is very common with 
all persons in a state of great debility, when first awaking 
out of a sleep. As an illustration of my meaning in this 
last remark, I will give you two instances. Between one 
and two o'clock in the morning of Saturday, Mr. Boyle 
came into the room ; at that instant, Dr. Bedell awoke out 
of sleep, and seeing the shadow cast upon the wall, inquired 
with some alarm, 'Who is that big man V Mr. B. approached 
the bed, and took the hand of our dying friend. The ques- 
tion was then asked, l Do you know him V and he replied, 
affectionately squeezing his hand at the same time, - O yes — 
Mr. Boyle — God bless him!' Perhaps an hour or more 
after this, while I was bending over him, watching his slum- 
ber, he suddenly awoke, and stared wildly at me for an 
instant ; and then, with a sweet smile, said, • O, now I 
know you !' 

"About half past three t o'clock in the morning, his 
extremities became cold — his pulse was sunken and quiver- 
ing — and we thought him to be dying. Still, notwithstand- 
ing the difficulty of his respiration, when his parched tongue 
and lips were moistened with ice, (which he frequently 
asked for,) he could speak short sentences slowly, but with 
distinct articulation. In answer to questions, and sponta- 
neously, he often spoke of the supports and hopes with 
which the Lord favored him, and expressed the same con- 
16* 



370 MEMOIR OF 

soling assurance which he had previously uttered. It was, 
I think, about this time, that he whispered into the ear of 
his afflicted wife, special messages of love and instruction 
for his absent children, and sisters, and some other friends, 
and for such members of his congregation as he thought 
would be likely to desire a particular remembrance in his 
last hours. 

"He then sunk into a state of rest and apparent slumber, 
but in a short time roused again, and, as if conscious that 
the time of his departure was at hand, and that he had 
already entered ' the dark valley of the shadow of death,' 
rallied his remaining powers for a last effort in the cause of 
the blessed Saviour, and for the promotion of his glory 
upon earth. Lifting his finger with great solemnity, (as he 
often did in the pulpit when about to utter any thing 
emphatically important,) he said, with a feeble and quiver- 
ing, but yet distinct and articulate enunciation, ' Hear me ! 
I acknowledge myself to have been a most unprofitable ser- 
vant — unprofitable, not hypocritical. I find myself to have 
been full of sin, ignorance, weakness, unfaithfulness, and 
guilt. But Jesus is my hope — washed in his blood, justi- 
fied by his righteousness, sanctified by his grace, I have 
peace with God. Jesus is very precious to my soul — my 
all in all — and I expect to be saved by free grace through 
his atoning blood. This is my testimony :' with emphasis, 

' THIS IS MY TESTIMONY !' 

" Not long after this precious and remarkable testimony 
of our dying brother, (so full of consolation to his surviving 
friends, so gratifying and encouraging to the children of 
God,) had been given, so anxious was his nearest friend, 
that while he had the power of speech, he should be encou- 
raged to employ it for the honor of his Lord, that I said 
to him, 'My dear friend and brother, now that you are 
upon the border of eternity, do you, in this trying hour, still 
feel the supports and consolations of that faith and hope 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 371 

which you have preached to others V He answered, ' Yes, 
I do — they are very precious to me.' I asked, ' Have you 
any message to leave for your brethren in the ministry V 
He replied, ' Yes, it is this : Be faithful, unmovable, always 
abounding in the work of the Lord !' This answer was 
given deliberately ; but he spoke with great difficulty, and 
we were unwilling to subject his already exhausted powers 
to the painful effort of answering any more questions. 

"After this, he sunk into a state of repose, with his hands 
clasped together over his breast, and, (as I doubt not,) with 
a heart much occupied by thoughts of heaven, and enjoying 
the rich pleasures of communion with God. About the 
dawn of day, while I was standing by his bedside, he 
opened his eyes, and seemed for a moment surprised to find 
himself still an inhabitant of this world ; for he immedi- 
ately said to me, ' I thought I should have been at home 
before now ;' and then, as if he feared I would understand 
him as referring to his earthly home, he impressively raised 
his finger, and pointing toward heaven, said, ' There.' This 
was, I believe, the last connected sentence which he uttered 
before he was indeed admitted to his home, that 'house not 
made with hands, eternal in the heavens.' 

"About six o'clock, while the doctor was with him, he 
pronounced the name of Dr. Mitchell, his beloved friend 
and physician while in Philadelphia. He said to his wife, 
4 Dr. Mitchell — tell him — tell him — tell him' — He seemed 
anxious to send him a special message, but could proceed no 
farther. His vocal organs would do their office no more. 
He made several other attempts to speak, but finding them 
unavailing, he made signs for paper and pencil, and with a 
trembling hand wrote the words, ' I can't make you hear.' 
Not long before his dissolution, as he was lying upon his 
back, with his hands clasped upon his breast, and his eyes 
intently gazing upwards, I remarked to him, ' I trust the eye 
of your faith is fixed on that same Jesus whom Stephen saw 



372 MEMOIR OF 

standing at the right hand of God ; and that his prayer is 
yours : Lord Jesus, receive rny spirit !' Mrs. B. then 
asked, ' My dear, do you see Jesus ¥ His voice could give 
no reply : but disengaging his hands, he most expressively 
pointed with his finger, first to his heart, and then toward 
heaven. When the last moment was near at hand, and I 
believe the parting agony had commenced, his anxious and 
affectionate wife, as if unwilling that this delightful spiritual 
intercourse should cease till he ceased to breathe, said to 
him, ' My dear, if all is peace still, lift your finger, or give 
some other sign.' His finger teas immediately raised, as the 
last indication he could give on earth that the Lord was with 
him, and he then gradually and calmly sunk away till he fell 
asleep in Jesus, on Saturday, 30th of August, at about nine 
o'clock A. M. It was like the setting of the summer sun, 
clear, serene, brilliant. 

" My full heart would prompt me to offer many reflection 
suggested by the imperfect but faithful narrative which I 
have now given of the last hours of an eminent disciple and 
minister of the Lord Jesus Christ, whom we ardently loved 
while living, and now sincerely mourn in death. But the 
narrative itself speaks more powerfully to the heart than 
any thing which I could utter or write. 

" We have lost a friend and brother : but he has gone to 
dwell with our elder brother, whose love is stronger than 
death. One of the great lights of Zion has been extin- 
guished, but He still lives with whom is 4 the fountain of 
light.' We, in our ignorance, see not how his place can be 
made good; but Jehovah Jireh — the Lord will provide. 

" Instead, therefore, of indulging unavailing sorrow for 
the decease of our friend, let us bless God that he was made 
an instrument of such extensive usefulness while living, and 
was enabled to seal and confirm the glorious doctrines which 
he had preached, by such a clear and satisfactory testimony 
in death. Let us pray for his afflicted family, that they may 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 616 

enjoy the fulness of Christian consolation : for the pious, 
numerous, and important flock, now bereft of their earthly 
shepherd, that the great Shepherd and Bishop of souls would 
provide them another i after his own heart, 5 who shall feed 
them with 'knowledge and understanding:' and for the 
church at large, that He who ' loveth Zion more than all the 
dwellings of Jacob' may raise up another — yea, a mighty 
company of others, who, as servants of the altar, may dis- 
play as much humility, zeal, faithfulness, and love in the 
precious work of the Gospel as signalized the ministry of 
him who now rests from his labors, and wears his immortal 
crown. 

" May we, my dear friend, and all who bear a part in the 
same ministry of reconciliation, show our respect for the 
memory of our departed brother, by complying with his 
dying charge— Be faithful, unmoveable, always abound- 
ing in the work of the Lord ! 

" Yours affectionately, 

" J. P. K. Henshaw."* 

Thus departed in honor and happiness from the world, in 
the forty-first year of his age, one of the most valued and 
useful ministers of the Gospel that has ever been given to 
this country. As his life was a faithful and consistent adorn- 

* The following beautiful lines were written by one of the younger 
members of his flock, after hearing the above letter read in the funeral 
sermon, which was preached by the request of the Yestry of St. 
Andrew's Church: 

last hours of a lamented pastor. 
Day dawns. The first gray light of op'ning mom 
Enters the chamber, and dispels the shades 
Of silent, solemn night Yet he still sleeps. 
How peaceful is that slumber ! The hands are gently 
Clasped upon the breast — -a heavenly smile 
Rests on the lips — all is so calm and still 
That ye might well suppose the spirit to have flown. 



374 MEMOIR OF 

ing of those great principles of the Gospel which his heart 
embraced, so his departure was full of peace and comfort 
derived from them. When we parted with him in the 
summer, as he entered upon his journey -to Bedford, he 
appeared to have little hope of any restoration himself. 
His plans were formed, and his thoughts and conversation 
were directed to a speedy completion of his work. He had 
not much hope of benefit to himself from this journey, but 
felt it his duty to do all that appeared possible to be done 
to prolong his service for others. He was manifestly ripen- 
There is a movement — now, his eyes unclose — 
Marked ye thai look of sorrow and surprise ? 
He speaks — approach, or ye will fail to hear 
Those soft, faint tones — "I thought I should have been 
At home, ere now/' Not at his earthly home — 
Oh no ! The uplifted finger points toward 
Heaven, he softly whispers — " There!" 

This earth 
Has never been a home, a place of rest 
To him : but as a battle-field, in which 
To fight in his loved Master's cause ; to show 
Himself faithful, approved ; to win 
A heavenly crowu. Long has his spirit 
Struggled to be free, and oft has seemed 
As on the wing of flight E'en now he thought 
The strife was o'er — that he would ne'er behold 
This earth again — but would awake in heaven. 
Yet G-od has called him back. 

A few more hours 
Have passed — he gazes upward, and his eyes 
Grow bright with an unwonted, heavenly 
Eadiance. ""WTiom dost thou see, beloved one? 
Does thy Redeemer now appear ?"' He strives 
To speak, but the words die away, unheard. 
Yet lo ! he points, first to his heart, then upward. 
He whom thou lov'st is near. 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 375 

ing with haste for a calmer and better world. As his body 
wasted and sunk in the process of decay, his spirit grew 
more humble, his conversation became more watchful and 
heavenly, and his whole aspect acquired a tranquility and 
sweetness of expression which indicated the character of his 
mind within, and bade us prepare to separate from him in a 
last earthly farewell. At the knowledge of his death, the 
church and community around united in sincere mourning 
with his more immediate personal friends, and all acknow- 
ledged the consciousness, that in this dispensation " a great 
man had fallen in Israel." 

'Tis almost o'er. " Oh I if all still is peace ; 
If on the bosom of thy Lord thou leanest — 
Give us one more assurance — raise thy hand." 
The sign is given. Oh ! death, where is thy 
Victory ? In Jesus' strength — he, too, has 
Conquered thee. 

Hast thou not seen the summer 
Sun, when, sinking in the west, it shed 
Its last bright beams upon the earth, then robed 
In splendor, hid itself from view, while all 
Around was calm, serene ! 'Twas thus he died. 
The light, which shone so brightly in our midst, 
Has disappeared ; but in the Saviour's crown 
For ever, as a brighter star, it shines. 



376 MEMOIR OF 



CHAPTER XII. 

Funeral — Testimonials of Respect for his Character — Rev. Mr. Snow's 
Introductory Essay. 

The earthly remains of Dr. Bedell were brought from 
Baltimore to Philadelphia on the 31st of August, accom- 
panied by the Rev. Dr. Henshaw, and deposited in the 
church-yard of St. Andrew's Church on Tuesday, the 2d of 
September, amidst the lamentations and sincere condolence 
of a numerous assembly of the clergy and laity of all deno- 
minations of Christians in the city of Philadelphia, 

The following extracts from the records of the Vestry of 
St. Andrew's Church exhibit the respect and affection which 
they entertained for their Rector, and stand as monuments 
of their just appreciation of his piety and worth : 

"A special meeting of the Vestry of St. Andrew's Church 
was held on Saturday evening, August 30, 1834. 

" It was stated by the President that the meeting was 
convened in consequence of intelligence having been received 
of the extreme illness of Dr. Bedell, at Baltimore. 

" On motion, Resolved, That a committee be appointed to 
proceed to Baltimore, in order to ascertain the state of the 
health of Dr. Bedell, and make the necessary arrangements 
for his removal, or otherwise. 

u Mr. Lex and Mr. Cash were appointed the commit- 
tee." 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 377 

"A special meeting of the Vestry of St. Andrew's Church 
was held on Sunday afternoon, August 31, 1834. 

" The Committee appointed at the special meeting of the 
30th inst. to proceed to Baltimore, made report that they 
had progressed on their journey to the distance of a few 
miles below Frenchtown, when they met the morning boat 
from Baltimore, and received the intelligence of the death 
of Dr. Bedell, which occurred in Baltimore, at the house of 
Hugh Boyle, Esq., on Saturday the 30th inst., at nine o'clock 
A.M., and that his remains and his family were on board of 
the boat on their return to the city ; the Committee imme- 
diately joined them, and arrived at the late dwelling of 
the deceased between three and four o'clock this after- 
noon, accompanied by the Rev. Dr. Henshaw, of Balti- 
more. 

" On motion, Resolved, That the funeral of the late Eector 
be fixed for Tuesday next, at three o'clock P.M. 

" On motion, Resolved, That a committee be appointed to 
superintend the funeral ; whereupon Messrs. Lex, Steven- 
son, Robins, and Cash were appointed that committee. 

"At a stated meeting of the Vestry, held on Tuesday, the 
2d September, the following resolution was unanimously 
adopted : 

"Resolved, That in affectionate demonstration of their 
veneration and respect for the memory of their late pastor, 
the Vestry record their grateful sense of the important pas- 
toral services he has rendered to the large and flourishing 
congregation raised by his efforts, during the period of 
eleven years he has ministered to them — of his ardent zeal 
and untiring labors in their behalf, and of the distinguished 
influence with which his services and eloquence enabled him 
to advance the interests generally of piety and religion. To 
his own flock he was a faithfully devoted and talented spirit- 
ual guide, and to our Episcopal communion ' a burning and 
a shining light.' 



378 MEMOIR OF 

"Resolved, That all expenses incident to the demise and 
interment of the late Rector, be paid by the Vestry." 

"At a Stated Meeting of the Vestry of St. Andrew's 
Church, held 2d September, 1834, the following resolution 
was unanimously adopted : 

"Resolved, That the Rev. Dr. Tyng be respectfully re- 
quested to deliver to the congregation of St. Andrew's, at 
such time as may suit his convenience, an appropriate dis- 
course on the dispensation of Providence, which has severed 
the earthly ties which united them to their beloved Pastor." 

The venerable Bishop Moore, of Virginia, was providen- 
tially in the city of Philadelphia, on the Sunday after the 
funeral, and preached in St. Andrew's Church. The follow- 
ing was the concluding passage of his sermon : — 

" My Brethren, — It was this God and Saviour to whom I 
have called your attention this morning, who constituted the 
dependence of your departed pastor. You are the witnesses 
of the fidelity with which he discharged his important duties. 
You are the people for whom he labored, and for whose 
present and eternal happiness he most ardently prayed. 
Remember, I beseech you, oh ! remember how often, when 
debilitated by that disease which has separated him from 
your embrace, you have seen him ascend this pulpit, and 
proclaim to you with a seraph's ardor, the riches of re- 
deeming grace, praying you, in parental accents, to take 
refuge in the arms of the Lord Jesus Christ, and to be re- 
conciled to God. Yes ! at a time in which, from the languor 
of his countenance and the feebleness of his frame, you have 
been led to conclude, that the discourse in which he was en- 
gaged, in all probability would prove his final address ; at 
such a time, you have seen him forget that feebleness, and 
w r ith his eyes sparkling with affection for his flock, you have 
listened to his appeals, and have silently determined to take 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 379 

up the cross and follow Jesus in the way. Are there not, 1 
would affectionately inquire, are there not those present in 
whose minds such resolutions have been formed, and who, 
notwithstanding such resolutions, have delayed the surrender 
of themselves to the Almighty % If such is the case with any 
individual before me, permit me, I beseech you, my brother 
permit me, my sister, to press the consideration of eternity 
upon your conscience, and to beseech you in Christ's stead 
to be reconciled to God. 

" Was your departed pastor permitted at this moment to 
address you, oh ! how affectionately would he entreat you to 
listen to my counsel, and to take instant refuge in the bosom 
of the Saviour ! Heaven, he would tell you, is richly worth 
your utmost efforts, and no sacrifice of worldly pleasure or 
gratification can be too great in a cause so important as 
your souls' salvation. My beloved brethren, hesitate no 
longer, I beseech you. Time is on the wing; to-morrow 
may be too late ; now is the accepted time, this is the day 
of salvation. 

" Finally : I cannot close my subject without returning 
my sincere thanks to the Vestry of this Church, and to his 
unwearied physician, for their kindness to my beloved 
nephew. Your attention to him during all his bodily indis- 
position reflects the highest honor upon you as a congrega- 
tion. Your attention to his memory since his decease pro- 
claims, in language which cannot be misunderstood, the 
ardency of your attachment to him and to his family. The 
cypress in which this sacred temple is clad conveys to the 
passing stranger the estimation in which he was held, and 
speaks volumes in favor of the love you still entertain for 
your departed pastor. 

"May the Almighty, my brethren, direct your attention 
to a suitable successor, and provide you with a faithful shep- 
herd. Finally, my beloved, in the words of the Apostle I 
bid you for a season an affectionate farewell. Be perfect ; 



380 MEMOIR OF 

be of good comfort ; be of one mind ; live in peace, and the 
God of love and peace will be with you." 

The funeral sermon was preached at the request of the 
Vestry, a few weeks after. One of the most respectable of 
the daily papers in Philadelphia thus noticed the occasion : — 

"The late Br. Bedell. — The numerous references to the 
name and character of Dr. Bedell, which have appeared in 
our columns since his death, are but spontaneous tributes of 
respect and affection from a few of the many by whom he 
was loved and revered. The interest winch has been excited 
by his departure, and the expressions of grateful respect for 
his memory which it has elicited, have been so general and 
so strikingly exhibited, as to surprise even those who knew 
him best and appreciated him most highly. On the occasion 
of delivering his funeral sermon, by the Rev. Dr. Tyng. at 
St. Andrew's Church, on Sunday last, the Church was filled 
even to the occupancy of every spot in the aisles and gal- 
leries. Hundreds who sought admittance, many of them 
before the hour of divine service, were obliged to go away 
without success. The services were most solemn and im- 
pressive, and manifestly produced a deep feeling in the 
hearts of the assembled multitude. The sermon of Dr. Tyng 
was entirely appropriate to the occasion, faithfully delineat- 
ing the character of the deceased as a minister of Christ and 
as a Christian, and commending him, in the former relation, 
to the remembrance, in the latter, to the imitation of his 
people. The vestry of St. Andrew's Church, at whose re- 
quest the sermon was preached, have, we believe, requested 
a copy of it for publication." 

The personal appearance of Dr. Bedell is beautifully por- 
trayed in the following extract from the Religious Souvenir 
of 1835, written by one who had long known and watched 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 381 

over him as his intimate friend and his kind physician, and 
who describes a pastor introduced into his story from his 
recollection of him. 

" He was yet in the prime of manhood ; but sickness had 
attenuated his middle-sized frame, blanched Ms cheek, and 
scattered white hairs among the dark locks on his temples. 
His vast forehead, spreading broadly as it ascended, and 
undulated by inequalities^ bespoke capacity and taste, while 
it presented a strong contrast to the slender face beneath it. 
His large gray eye, fringed with long lashes, gave softness 
to a countenance which his bony cheeks, and large, though 
very expressive mouth, would have made harsh without 
them. His hair, long and lank, was combed back from the 
top towards the left ear, and the side locks stood stiffly for- 
ward along his temples, and projected beyond his face. A 
short, tickling cough indicated the seat of his malady, and 
the knowledge of the certainty of a limited life gave a sweet 
solemnity to his manner, and threw a melancholy tenderness 
into the interest acquired with his people, by a gentle, 
active, irreproachable deportment. 

" Naturally diffident and unobtrusive, he was usually 
silent in company ; but when there arose occasion for speech 
or an intimate friend excited his social efforts, he riveted at- 
tention, commanded conviction, and left behind a pleasing 
and a beneficial impression. 

" There was in every part of his conduct that noble dis- 
regard of self which belongs only to minds of the highest 
order. With greater physical energy, he might have sought, 
as a missionary, the frozen wastes of Greenland, or the pes- 
tilential marshes of Africa, Debarred by disease, partly 
constitutional, and partly acquired by clerical labors, from 
the achievements of a Swartz and the sufferings of a Judson, 
he yet shrunk not from pastoral efforts beyond his strength, 
and literary labors destructive to his feeble powers of life. 



382 MEMOIR OF 

If his heart bled for the misfortunes of men, his counsel and 
his purse were alike accessible to the unhappy, and out of 
his little store he spared them that which, one more circum- 
spect would have treasured up for the wants of a future and 
a more helpless period. If he had a fault, it was the in- 
ability to postpone the necessities of others to his own inte- 
rest or convenience. Though this might have sprung exclu- 
sively from the forceful faith with which he leaned on the 
promise that the children of the righteous shall not be ex- 
posed to neglect and poverty, yet there was evidently a 
kind and disinterested nature, yielding fruits the richer, for 
a more direct, divine irradiation. 

" The extent of his benefaction was not limited by his 
personal ability. Never, perhaps, lived there a being who 
possessed in a higher degree the power of eliciting the cha- 
rity and the patronage of others. He collected around him 
meritorious men, in a great variety of useful pursuits, and 
obtaining money for some, countenance for many, and the 
best counsel for all, he promoted not only the personal 
prosperity of the individuals, but the highest interests of 
society. Few approached him for the first time without 
benefit, and scarcely any afterward, without feeling the 
usual regard for the minister, enhanced by the most agree- 
able recollections of unlooked-for kindness and gracefully- 
given services. 

" Remarkable as were these many traits of excellence, it 
was in the pulpit that the pastor shone with the brightest 
lustre. Clear, simple, chaste, logical, impassioned, he com- 
bined the most opposite qualities ; and although reduced 
almost to a skeleton by consumption, his magnificent voice, 
with its clear enunciation and diversified intonation, could 
be heard at an almost incredible distance. Here there was 
no diffidence apparent. The ambassador of God, speaking 
under his authority to his sinful creatures, knew no fear and 
practised no deference. Hopes of heaven, fears of hell, the 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 383 

beauty of holiness, the deformity of sin, the goodness, the 
mercy, and the justice of God were in turn his theme ; and 
never did his people hear abler expositions, or more affec- 
tionately eloquent appeals. His success in his lofty mission 
had been proportionate to the means, and he had the hap- 
piness of collecting around him a people sound in faith and 
zealous of good works" 

From the same pen, the following obituary notice was 
published in the daily papers of Philadelphia, soon after the 
death of Dr. Bedell : 

"Those who knew Dr. Bedell solely through his lite- 
rary productions and his clerical reputation must have felt 
surprised at the amiouncement of his age. That he who had 
poured such an abundant treasure from the press, and so 
long held the highest place in pulpit oratory, should have 
reached only to twoscore years, is indeed matter of wonder ; 
but when we know that for at least fifteen years he has con- 
tended with a malady which seldom permitted a single day 
of entire comfort, we are doubly impressed with astonish- 
ment at the labors endured, and the works executed by 
him. 

" The mystery is easily explained, however, when it is 
known that he lived with the single purpose of serving his 
Divine Master, and that though possessed of a facility and 
versatility of talent which would have seduced almost any 
other man into procrastination, he seldom lost the little frac- 
tions of time so generally squandered ; but in every place, 
and at all seasons, was accustomed to seize his pen and 
record his thoughts. He has been often seen in his vestry- 
room in the midst of his friends, immediately after laborious 
public duty, committing to paper hints for future sermons 
or anticipated publications. This economy of time, too, was 
practised by the man who has more than once written out an 



384 MEMOIR OF 

entire sermon at a single sitting. Valuable as he was in 
other respects, in none has Dr. Bedell exhibited a more 
useful and a rarer lesson. 

"In another respect he presented a delightful model. 
Originally kind, gentle, and most affectionate, his heart did 
not lose the freshness and force of feeling as it became neces- 
sary to expand his regards over a wider surface — nor did 
increasing years abate the vigor of his sentiments. For his 
fellow-men, as well as for his friends and his family, there 
was a constantly increasing interest ; and as his religion 
burned more and more intensely, so did his love for his 
' neighbor ' grow stronger and stronger ; and while he 
learned to love his God with all his soul, he did not forget 
to prize his fellows as himself. 

" It was this two-fold affection which, through the grace 
of God, kept him from feeling elated by the successful ser- 
vice of the temple, and the flattering suffrages of the world. 
His humility grew with his fame and his usefulness, and 
then most did he give the glory to his Master, when he was 
most eminent in the eyes of men. The nearer he drew to 
heaven, and the more his labors resulted in good and great 
effects, the more did he lament the feebleness of the efforts 
compared with the greatness of the cause, and thank the 
Giver of every good gift that the progress of his kingdom 
was not left to any arm of flesh 

" That remarkable humility gave a peculiar grace to his 
natural gentleness of mamier and character. He was the 
gentlest of human beings, and while perfectly fearless in the 
execution of his high functions, always preferred persuasion 
to command, and desired rather to lead than to drive the sin- 
ner to repentance. In an intimate, almost daily intercourse 
for more than ten years, the writer of this article never 
received from him a harsh or hasty observation, although 
matters of the deepest interest were frequently subjects of 
discordant opinion. The dogmatic manner so frequently 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 385 

the result of pulpit declamation never infected him, and all 
his intimate friends will agree in the opinion, that he was 
entirely free from this very common fault of those who, 
in any profession, are frequently privileged to assert without 
hazard of direct contradiction. 

" His singleness of heart and force of religion made Dr. 
Bedell eminently practical. The speculations which might 
illustrate the man were avoided for the services which might 
save the sinner, and that only seemed important in his eyes 
which promised to advance practically the mighty cause in 
which he had embarked his energies, and to which he sacri- 
ficed first his health, and then his life. Every thing was 
turned by him to religious account. He edited a newspa- 
per — it was a Christian Register. He wrote a review — it 
was to bring the example and precepts of Heber attract- 
ively before his readers. He published a Souvenir — it was 
to press the popular annuals into the service of religion. He 
was a chief builder-up of Bristol College — ' It was to disci 
pline and instruct new soldiers of the cross for that strife in 
which he could not long hope himself to be a combatant.' 
He greedily devoured the literature of the day — it was to 
select, re-publish, and spread abroad whatever was promo- 
tive of morals and illustrative of piety. Every one who 
examines the shelves of the booksellers, finds the name of 
Dr. Bedell on the title-page of a very large portion of the 
most salable religious books. His tact in this was unques- 
tionable ; and his selection was considered a sufficient war- 
rant for republication, his name an adequate proof of popu- 
lar fitness. 

" With such qualities, who could fail to prove interesting 
and instructive m the pulpit % But Dr. Bedell had also ele- 
gant taste, chaste gesture, and a pleasing, powerful, and 
clear enunciation. With such advantages, with heart-felt 
conviction of the truth and paramount importance of his 
subject, forgetful of self, and looking only to his audience, 
17 



886 MEMOIR OF 

he never failed to make a strong and permanent impression. 
Under such circumstances, those who knew him best, and 
heard him most frequently, felt him most forcibly. He was 
an unrivalled every -day preacher. Never aiming at single 
great efforts, he never fell into mediocrity. Although his 
4 occasional ' sermons exhibited rare powers, it was neces. 
sary to hear him often, to know the full influence of his elo- 
quence. The stream of his mind seldom dashed from the 
cataract, or foamed in the rapids. Clear, gentle, pure, it 
was always beautiful, seldom wild or irregular. It delighted 
not in the rock and the whirlpool, but loved to stray along 
the cultivated fields, and amidst verdant meadows, where it 
could fertilize the one, and irrigate the other. Judging of 
oratory by its effects, his was of the highest order, for he 
reared St. Andrew's from its foundations ; and that Church, 
with its overflowing people, its numerous societies, its rich 
donations, its thousand scholars, is the very point to which 
the Episcopal public turns for an example of active good 
and extended usefulness. It was the product of the labor 
of eleven years, during all which time he was under the lash 
of disease, often painful, always oppressive. 

" But in spite of a feeble constitution and superinduced 
sickness, literary labors, and general engagements, the first 
Rector of St. Andrew's Church has left it in a state of the 
highest religious prosperity, after a progress most harmoni- 
ous, at a period when the dissensions of the church-general 
rendered it difficult to maintain the peace and good order 
of individual communities. 

" His year has closed almost in its spring, but the fruits 
were mingled with the blossoms, and amidst the buds and 
flowers of the earlier season we hail the ripened grain, and 
the rich abundance of a productive autumn. Who then 
shall lament, that e his sun has gone down while it was yet 
day,' since he has done his work, and avoided the ills of the 
sunset of life ! It was an early, but not a premature death 



REV. DR. BEDELL. 38? 

— and indeed his influence does not die with him, for its 
lasting memorials are every where abroad in the Churches, 
fco stimulate piety and enliven hope ; and to prove that, 
with the blessing of God, great ends may be reached by 
apparently inadequate means. 

" It is scarcely to be supposed that with such dispositions 
and such piety as were possessed by Dr. Bedell, his social 
circle could fail to be peculiarly interesting. Gentle man- 
ners, warm affections, sprightly friendships, were there in a 
degree scarcely ever found in our darkened world.- His 
wife was his highest and most cherished friend and confi- 
dant ; his children feared only to wound him, and his friends 
crowded round him with a full assurance of a welcome, at 
once warm and sincere. It was indeed impossible to enter 
his domestic circle without feeling how much its enjoyments 
were heightened and purified by the sacred spirit of its head, 
and the habitual kindness of its inmates. His widowed wife 
and his orphan children have lost, not only their stay, but 
their precepter and companion. Yet if they mourn, they 
have the certainty of his happiness to console, and his bright 
example to support them. They are the legacy of the right- 
eous man, and will they not participate in the promise that 
they shall not be deserted V 



THE END. 



687 



















































^- 









*y2&rs 






' 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: March 2006 

PreservationTechnologie: 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATIO 
111 Thomsor 

Cranberry Township. p A ibD56 
(724)779-2111 



